Lost on the Road of Life
by toddmanningfreak1112
Summary: Talia and Antonio find a fifteen year old girl lurking in an alleyway. Who is she, and how did she get to Llanview?
1. Chapter 1

Lost on the Road of Life

By toddmanningfreak1112

Chapter 1

Why is life exactly like climbing a mountain? You get so far up until you think you could touch the sky only to come tumbling back down by a strong gust of wind. While most people would, like in life, simply get back up, brush themselves off, and try again, one certain fifteen-year-old thought she had tried again one too many times.

* * *

It was a dreary June night at the Llanview Police Station, and so far, things were quiet. There were no murder trials, rape charges, or any people coming in yelling that they have been assaulted by that crazy woman who has a crush on her husband. All of the officers were hanging around the station drinking coffee and doing some last minute paper work. The only sound was the rain pelting down on the windows…until Officer Talia Sahid stormed in dragging a struggling (and quite loud) teenage girl of about fifteen years old.

The girl had dirty blonde hair, soft hazel eyes, deadly pale skin, and a figure made up of skin and bones. Over her tiny frame she wore all black: a halter shirt that fell down to her midriff, a mini skirt, and worn leather boots covered with mud and stray leaves from the storm.

"All right, young lady, come with me," Talia groaned leading the besieged teenager over to a spare guest, but the girl would not move easily.

"I'm telling you, I haven't done anything wrong!" she cried trying to wriggle out of Talia's grasp. She planted her boots, whose heels were cracking under pressure, on the blue carpeted floor and played "Tug of War" over her wrist. "Let…me…GO!"

Talia grabbed the girl's wrist with both hands. She knew it was not the most sensitive thing to do, but she could not let the girl get away. How could she when she found the anorexic-looking teenage in an abandoned alley at the bad side of town after Llanview's neighborhood curfew? Now she would not tell Talia her name, where she lives, or who her parents were.

"You know, Miss, if you just told me where you lived, I wouldn't have had to bring you all the way down here," Talia sighed.

"Was it even legal for you to bring me down her without arresting me? Like I've told you over and over again, I haven't done anything wrong."

"Umm excuse me," Talia shot back sharply, "I found you by yourself after neighborhood curfews. You're not allowed to be roaming the streets without an adult eighteen years or older after nine thirty." Her voice was monotonous as if she had recited that last sentence from a police officer's handbook. Knowing that she had been talking Talia looked around quickly. The passing police officers kept staring at them, so she decided to keep her voice down. "Look," she said softly, "wherever your parents are, if you have any, they would want you to be safe. And that is either at your house or here. So, what's it gonna be?"

The girl stopped; she had met her match. This cop was smart, and she was not going to be easily manipulated. Knowing that she had been beaten, she threw her hands in the air and sat in the chair in front of Talia's desk.

"Smart choice," Talia praised sarcastically. "Now, are you up to answering some questions?"

"Don't press your luck." The teenager kicked her boots off under the desk and stretched out her legs. "So, I don't know you, you don't know me, I think we should become better acquainted, don't you?"

"Yeah. Why don't we start with 'what is your name'?"

"Officer Sahid? Is there a problem here?" A Latino man wearing a white T-shirt, black jeans, and a badge around his neck appeared at Talia's elbow. He looked from Talia, the unnamed girl in front of him, and back at Talia again.

"Oh, hello, Detective Vega." She turned to the teenager, who was filing her toe nails. "Young lady, this is Detective Antonio Vega. Detective Vega, this is…" Talia trailed off, obviously embarrassed that she had not gotten to the bottom of the mysterious girl's identity.

Antonio tilted his head. "Well, aren't you going to tell me her name, Officer Sahid?" he asked gently tapping his coworker on the shoulder.

Talia turned back to Antonio. "Well, I'll get back to you on that one when she finally tells me her name herself. This young lady won't tell me who her parents are or where she lives, so I had to bring her here for further questioning."

"Well, has she done anything wrong?" Antonio asked looked down at the teenager curiously.

"Okay, I hate being talked about as I'm not in the room!" the girl exclaimed standing up defiantly. "Why don't I answer a question for a change? No, I did not do anything wrong, so can you please back off and let me go?"

"I found her in an empty alley with nobody else after neighborhood curfew, but since she won't tell me where she lives, I had to bring her in so I can run a background check on her."

"Look, lady, I didn't do anything wrong!" Antonio and Talia looked down on the girl, who had started to sweat because of frustration. Why couldn't they just let her go? She felt as if the world, one country, one geographic feature at a time, was crashing down on her. She wanted to cry so badly. "_Don't cry," _she told herself. "_Crying never helped you out in the past, and it certainly won't help you out now." _

"Well, you won't get into any trouble if you just let us take you home, and furthermore, young lady, you treat the officers here with respect unless you want to spend the night down in holding," Antonio sighed. He turned to Talia with tired eyes. "Talia, it's late, why don't you go home? I'm working late anyway."

"Thank you, Detective Vega." Talia reached behind her desk and pulled out her coat, purse, and keys. She was about to leave when she turned around and tapped the girl on her shoulder. "Hey," she whispered. "Don't you even think about giving Detective Vega a hard time because I will hear about it." She quickly strode out of the room.

The teenager sighed and stepped back into her boots. What was she going to do? If she could not convince Officer Sahid to let her go and forget about the whole thing, what made her think that she could try to trick Detective Vega into doing the same thing.

Antonio ran his hand through his hair and gestured to his desk outside of Commissioner Buchanan's office. "Well, have a seat," he said in a tired voice. "I can tell that this is going to be a long night."

"You and Officer Sahid already admitted that I didn't do anything wrong, so why don't you just let me go!" the girl complained.

"Well, why don't _you _sit down before I turn you over to the Commissioner? I can assure you that he is much more strict than I am." When the teenager did not move, he pointed to the chair and commanded, "Sit. _Now!_" The teenager sighed and slumped over to the chair. Antonio took a seat behind the guest across from her.

"Do your worst," the girl exhaled heavily leaning back in her chair. "_God, will you please just kill me now?" _

Antonio raised an eyebrow. "Are you willing to cooperate now?" His voice was much softer, and the teenager swore that she could sense a father's concern in his voice; but she could not get a soft spot for him now.

"Are you kidding me? _I _just want to see how long your patience can last before you start flipping out. For me, it's like going to a football game."

"Then let's start with this. Where exactly did Officer Sahid find you?"

"You know, you should've kept Miss Pissed Off Cop her to play drill sergeant."

"Why were you there in the first place?"

"What does it matter? I always seem to end up in trouble."

"Why, do you to drugs?"

"I don't screw myself up like that."

"Sex?"

"I'm no slut!"

"Have you ever been arrested before?"

"No, but I bet life in jail is a breeze compared to the rest of my life in Hell."

Antonio half-grinned. "_Aha!" _he thought, "_She's starting to crack under pressure!" _"Well, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Miss I Won't Answer Any Questions just answered one, has she not? So, why is your life hell?"

The girl, who hand been staring at her fingernails throughout the interrogation, looked up as if she were a rubber band snapping in half and covered her mouth in horror. "N-n-n-n-no, forget I just said that!"

"Look, haven't your parents told you that one of the top people you can trust is a cop?"

"Dammit, will you just lay off?" Tears started to form in the girl's eyes, but she would not let herself cry. "I don't care what you do; put me in jail if you want, but please stop driving me to my breaking point!" She slammed her arms on the desk and buried her head in them.

For a moment, Antonio just awkwardly stared at her, not knowing if he should be sensitive or stern. She was a child, after all; an innocent child who was lost and did not know where to go…but what did she have to hide? She broke the neighborhood curfews. Most kids would be on their knees pleading for forgiveness, not being a wise ass towards the people who are supposed to be helping her.

Antonio leaned forward and patted the girl's hand gently. "You know, the easiest way would be to just tell me who your parents are and let me drive you home. I'll explain the situation to your parents and try not to get you in trouble." He eyed the girl carefully, but she continued to shift uncomfortably in her chair. Antonio leaned back and cleared his throat. "This is your last chance or else I take you down to holding and let the Commissioner deal with you while I track down your parents, and believe me, it won't be hard. So, are you going to tell me?"

The girl swallowed. What harm would it do if she told him who her parents were? He could not do anything anyway; he could not track them down and return her to them like a lost puppy. "_No, you can't tell him," _a voice inside of her head chanted over and over. "You'll only get hurt if that happens. She shook her head miserably and said to her feet, "I'm sorry, but I cannot tell you."

Antonio nodded gravely and stood up. "The only person you should be apologizing to is yourself. He beckoned towards the dejected teenager. "Come on." She stood up slowly and followed Antonio to the door that said in bold, white letters "Commissioner Bo Buchanan." Antonio rapped his knuckles on the glass door and poked his head in. "Bo, you got a sec?" he asked.

"Sure, Antonio, come on in," a deep voice replied. Antonio turned toward the girl and led her inside.

The office, like the rest of the station, was painted blue and had pictures of a young brown-haired boy and a blonde haired woman around everywhere. At the desk in the center of the room sat the Commissioner who was engulfed in his paperwork. He looked up at Antonio and the unnamed teenager. "What do we have here, Antonio?" he inquired.

Antonio put his hands on the girl's shoulders. "Bo, this is Miss…umm…well, to be honest of you, she hasn't told me her name, but she was found by Officer Sahid in an alleyway after neighborhood curfew. She wouldn't talk to me, she wouldn't talk to Talia, so I thought that we'd let her talk to the most powerful cop on the force."

Bo nodded. "All right, I'm free." He got up from his desk and gestured to the arm chair in front of it. "Have a seat then." The unsure girl sat down slowly as if the chair was going to give out at any given moment. Antonio sat down on the black couch off to the side of the room. Bo used this time to observe the girl in front of him. He had never seen a teenager so frail, white, and thin. She was glancing around the room looking at anything except for the two men in the room with her. Bo sat down on the edge of his desk and started to ask questions. "All right, I bet Detective Vega and Officer Sahid already asked the most basic questions, so I'll skip to the most important one: why don't you want us to know who your parents are?"

The girl's vow of silence that she has taken was broken. "Look, with all do respect, Commissioner, are you crazy? If you were in jail, would you be in such a big hurry to call your parents?"

Bo raised his eyebrows. "I'd rather be in a huge mess of trouble with me parents than sitting in a jail cell. What's the worst that could happen to you?" He turned to Antonio, who was watching from the side of the room. "Antonio, if your little girl was caught in an alleyway after neighborhood curfews and was brought into the station, how would you handle it?"

Antonio pondered this for a moment. "Honestly, Bo, I would yell at her for about an hour and made sure that she never left her room."

The teenager looked at him with disbelief. "And this is supposed to make me answer your dumb question _how?_"

Antonio raised his palm. "Wait, I'm going somewhere with this," he explained. "I'd then remind my daughter that no matter what she does, no matter how much trouble she is in, I'm always going to forgive her. And I'll bet that your parents would do the same."

"Exactly," Bo agreed. "Okay, say you get grounded for a few months. Is it that bad? Is it worse than going to jail?"

"I'm not going to answer that."

Antonio walked over to the girl and his boss. "Look, what the Commissioner is trying to say is some kids get hurt by their parents; physically, emotionally, even sexually. Sometimes they're punished for something they didn't even do. Whose shoes would you rather be in?"

The two men stared down at the girl as if their stares for forcing her to give a reply. The girl swallowed and finally looked up at both of them. "Okay, I appreciate what you two are trying to do, but I honestly think that I should be down in the holding cell than being in an interrogation that's not going to get us anywhere."

"You know, we're going to find out who your parents are whether you stay here overnight or not," Bo reminded her.

"Good luck with that."

"We're only allowed to hold you for twenty four hours," Antonio added. "And if we still can't find your parents by then, you go into foster care while we continue to look for them."

"You do that."

"And once we fingerprint you, it will be very easy to find your parents," Bo concluded, "through birth certificates and other records."

"You're wasting your time."

Bo sighed and turned wearily to Antonio. "Antonio, I'll take her down to get her fingerprinting and then escort her down to holding."

"Okay, send the fingerprints up to me as soon as possible," Antonio agreed. He looked down at he scared girl who was staring at her shaking knees. "Don't give the Commissioner a hard time." He left the office quickly.

* * *

"Well," Bo said checking his watch, "it's only a matter of time before we know your name."

Bo opened the door leading to a line of cells. The girl next to him shivered, wishing that she had brought her jacket with her when she had gone out. She laced her fingers together and banged them against her lap nervously. The cops who had fingerprinted her and washed her hands after the process, but they still felt dirty. Bo turned to the guard who was standing at the entrance.

"Wally, this young lady is going to be spending the night here," he explained leading the teenager forward. The girl glanced up at the guard and back down at her feet. She did not know going into a jail cell would feel like this.

The guard opened the door of the cell and escorted the girl inside. After he closed the door, Bo stepped up to the cell and stared at her through the bars. "Get some sleep because chances are we'll be waking you up bright and early." He followed the guard and left the room.

The girl looked around her nervously. Her pulse was rushing, and beads of sweat were forming across her hair line. What if Bo and Antonio found her parents? "_No, don't think about that," _she told herself. "_There is no trace of your parents anywhere." _She sat down on the bed and buried her face in her hands.

"Hey! Hey you!" a voice whispered loudly. The girl looked up to see a figure stepping out of the shadows in the cell next to her.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The girl jumped back in fright. Who was this person, and what did he want with her? Was he a murderer awaiting trial or a convicted rapist? "_You're in a cell, and nobody can hurt you," _she reminded herself. She slowly backed up into the corner hoping if she could make herself invisible, the man would forget about her. She watched through the cracks of her bunk bed and realized this man was a teenage boy a few years older than she was.

The boy had long, shaggy blond hair that hung in his eyes, but he had managed to keep some of it back with an Eagles baseball cap that he was wearing backwards. His gray eyes sparkled in the dim light, and he smiled with deep dimples slightly crooked teeth. He wore long olive-green shorts and a white and brown striped shirt.

"It's okay, you don't have to be afraid of me," he assured her in a boyish voice. He made his way to the set of bars that separated the two cells. "I'm really not a bad person. Honestly, I'm not."

The girl came out from around the bed and eyed her inmate suspiciously. "Who are you?" she blurted out. "What are you doing in here? I mean, you look like a good kid. I don't see you as being a juvenile delinquent."

The boy laughed. "You know, talkative one, you shouldn't judge people based on appearances. Don't you know what- rather _who _Justice is? She's the statue outside of all courtrooms. Justice is blind, you know, but you don't have to see to be able to seek out the truth. Close you eyes." The girl stared at him, confused at what he was saying. "Go on, close them!" Knowing that she was safer following commands rather than refusing them, she closed her eyes, shaking with every breath she took. "What do you see when you close your eyes?"

The girl paused. What exactly was this boy trying to make her do? Thinking over it for a brief moment, she replied, "I really don't think you're a bad person."

"Good," the boy agreed with a toothy grin. "At least I have one person on my side."

The girl opened her eyes and smiled shyly. "You know, I would really like to know my truth-seeking inmate's name."

The boy smacked his forehead with wide eyes. "Great Scott, my apologies!" he exclaimed. "My name's Jade…Jake Jade…but you can call me Jade." He extended his arm gracefully. With hesitation, the girl took Jade's hand and let him kiss her slender fingers lightly. Although Jade did not realize it, the girl had caught a glimpse of his face blushing a rosy pink color. He quickly let go of her hand and cleared his throat. "So, uhh…what's _your _name?"

The girl dropped her arms limply to her sides. At least hearing Jade's illuminating speech about "Justice is blind" distracted her for a few minutes, but now the world was coming back on a collision course. She remembered that she was standing in the middle of a cold jail cell and could not reveal her identity. "Don't ask," she answered curtly before retiring to the bed and plopping down on it. Jade watched as she massaged her temples with her fingertips.

"Umm, talkative one?" he asked raising his hand, "If I may say so, for one who asks so many questions, you certainly don't answer a lot."

The girl looked up with narrow eyes. Should she trust him? She silently closed her eyes and gave Jade a silent search. In her heart of hearts, she knew he was not a bad person, but she still had doubts. What if Commissioner Buchanan and Detective Vega secretly bugged her cell while she was getting fingerprinted? They could probably hear their whole conversation. Still, she felt the urge to talk to someone, to open the jar up that she had kept her feelings bottled into. She rubbed her eyes wearily. Why must the simplest and most unimportant questions be the most difficult to make?

"Umm…you still haven't told me _your _story," she reminded Jade quickly.

Jade grinned and slapped his forehead again. "Crikey, you're right, talkative one!" he exclaimed. He pulled a chair from the corner of the cell, stepped up onto it with one foot, and rested his elbow on his knee. "Where shall I begin?"

"I was born in Illinois in suburb of Chicago," he started, his head tilting back with the memories. "My mother was a very successful psychiatrist– "

"Was?"

Tears started to form in Jade's eyes. "Was," he confirmed. "My mother died in last year in a car accident."

"Oh…" The girl looked into Jade's eyes. "I'm so sorry. Really, I am."

Jade did not think much about it, but he thought that he saw tears in the girl's eyes. They had only known each other for a few minutes; she did not strike him as the most sensitive girl in the world. Somewhere in his heart told him that she was feeling for him more so than he knew. "Thanks," he replied staring at his foot that was shifting on the cold steel floor. "Anyway, my dad never went to college. He worked at a gas station every night after Mom made dinner. Something never seemed right, though. Dad never hugged me or kissed me or told me that he loved me."

"Never?"

"Never. I didn't really give it a thought. You know, I just thought that it dads never showed affection to their sons. So I just continued on with my life, really connecting with my mother and keeping distance from my father. Finally, a few years ago, my parents got in the mother of all fights, and my mom finally packed us up, moved us across town, and filed for divorce."

"Did you still get to see your father?"

"Yeah, he was granted visitation rights, and I sometimes stayed with him a night or two during the summer…not that we'd even do anything. He'd give me a few bucks and tell me to get a burger or something, but it's not like he'd ever be there…except…" Jade sighed, sat down on the chair, and laced his fingers in his lap.

"Except what?"

When Jade looked up, tears were flooding in his eyes waiting to overflow like a waterfall.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't be asking if it's too personal– "

"No, it's okay, really," Jade replied wiping his eyes on the back of his sleeve. "I never realized this, but…I really need to talk to someone."

"Jade…you only met me ten minutes ago."

"I know…but I was always taught never to judge a book by its cover. When I look into your eyes, I don't see a girl dressed in black miniskirts in a jail cell. I see a truly good person…and if you don't mind, I'd really want to tell you my life story."

"Of course," the girl replied breathlessly. She did not know why, but her heart felt lighter and more free when she heard Jade's last few words. "_He's on my side," _she reassured herself. "_Even though every person in the Llanview Police Department was against me, this person, whom I had met just a few minutes ago, is on my side."_

"One day," Jade continued looking at the girl rather than his thumbs, "I had to live with my dad because my mother had to go away for a few months. He told me that he had lost his job and needed the money in order to keep his apartment. So…he asked me to steal money from this woman who had moved in next door from him the previous day."

"Did you refuse?"

"Well…_yes,_" Jade answered empathetically. "But then my dad made this whole speech on how we are family and if I really loved him, then I would do this small gesture of good will to him. But naturally, I refused. The one lesson I learned from my mother that I had valued very much was never do anything that you know in your heart was wrong. So when I refused again, my father's eyes grew dark. He, uh, he threatened me that if I do not obey him and help him, he would kill me, my mother, and all of my mom's family. I did not want to see my family dead, so I followed him to the lady's hotel room and did everything he asked: my father distracted her, and I stole her wallet that was laying on her kitchen counter."

"And then what happened?"

"I got cold feet," Jade admitted. "Just as we were about to leave, the woman had noticed that her wallet was missing. She had asked us to help her look for it, but my dad said no and hurried us on our way. We were going through the door when I turned around, reached into my back pocket, and boldly showed the woman that I was the culprit."

"Did you tell her that your father had told you to steal the wallet?"

"No. I wanted to, but something did not seem right about it."

"So what did your father do?"

"He apologized over and over for my misdemeanor and then hurried us home. But then he started to scare me. He locked all of the doors and windows, drew the curtains, and turned off the light. I was scared; all I could think about was when I could leave and go back to my mother and be safe. But when I tried to get out, my dad threw me to the ground and started to beat me. He continued to beat me until my whole body was black and blue. I could hardly move. When I talked, all that came out was blood."

"Oh my god," the girl gasped covering her mouth with her hands. She tried to stop the tears from running down her cheeks, but it was useless. This boy who was in the jail cell next to her was a victim of abuse by his own father. She desperately wanted to say something, to tell him how she could relate, but she stopped herself. "_Nobody can know your secret," _a voice inside of her told her. She racked her brain for something to say.

"Jade," she started shakily wiping her eyes and reaching through the bars to put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry that you had to go through this. I know that we just met, but I already know that you are one of the most amazing people I've ever met…_ever._"

Jade bowed his head for a few moments, but when he looked up, the tears were gone. "I'm not going to cry," he told her firmly. "I've pitied myself for too long, but I can't keep feeling bad for myself. The fact is that I am away from that monster who hurt me over and over."

"What do you mean by over and over. Oh my god, Jade, did he hurt you more than once?"

"Just one other time," Jade replied, "after my mom died. After the first time he hurt me, he sent me home saying that I got in a fight with one of the neighbor's kids. My mother asked me over and over if I was not true, but I assured her that it was and went along with my father's story. Two years later, my mother died, and I was once again in my father's custody. By then, I was hurting beyond words. I was hurting so much that I had gotten drunk. When my dad found out, he had hurt me so badly that I thought I had broken one of my ribs. Finally, he just left me out in an alleyway to die until I was found by a police officer who took me into the station."

"So then what happened?"

"I got medical attention and then I was questioned on end about who did this to me. At first, I did not want to tell them, but then I remembered how my mom always wanted to protect me from all of the evils in the world, including my dad if she had ever found out about it. I heard her voice telling me that the right thing to do would be to tell him and let them take care of me, so I did."

"What did they do?"

"Well, first off, they hunted down my dad and arrested him for child abuse. Then they contacted my aunt, who is my godmother, and she took me into her custody and brought my father to court. She then brought me here to live in Llanview with her and my cousin, and I've been happy ever since. Living with them has been the bright spot of my future, and my aunt has told me every night not to live in the past or live in the future but to live in now, the present. She gave me another chance, and I'll never forget that."

There was an awkward silence between the two of them. The girl cleared her throat. "So, umm…how did you end up here?"

"Oh, alcohol possession," Jade replied waving his hand off as if it were no big deal. "Two guys who I knew from school tried to get me high, and by the time the police caught us, they had run away. I'm honestly not the one to rat out other guys, so I'm just chillin' here until my aunt comes to pick me up. She was out of town for a business meeting about three hours away, so she's probably on her way now." He stretched his arm out and yawned. "So that's my story. What about yours?"

The girl paused and shook her head. "No," she replied flatly. "If I tell you even part of it, I'll end up pouring out my whole life story, and I can't do that. Not now, at least.."

Jade nodded understandingly. "Okay," he said simply. He laid down on his bed and stared at the ceiling. "You know, I could at least know your name."

The girl thought about this for a second and shrugged before retiring to her own bed. "Just call me Lily."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Talia sat down at her desk and took a long sip of coffee. It had been a long night; as soon as she had left the station, she found herself constantly worrying about that lonely teenager and if she was being taken care of. She stared at her phone anxiously; Wally, the guard, had promised her that he would call her as soon as the girl woke up. It was already nine o'clock, and the teenager, now known as Lily when on terms with Jade, still had not woken up. "_She probably had a rough night," _Talia told herself. "_Antonio probably kept her up until midnight." _

At this time, Antonio had come in with his coffee mug in one hand and three boxes in the other. "Donuts!" he announced setting them on the table as the rest of the staff hungrily waited to devour them. Antonio chuckled, but his smile immediately ceased when he saw Talia sitting at her desk staring into her computer with a pained look on her face. Antonio approached her cautiously. "Rough morning, Officer Sahid?" he asked. He half expected Talia to jump in surprise, but she had remained in her chair, her eyes still glued to the screen.

"I'm looking over the searches you left me last night," Talia replied in a monotonous voice. "How can there be no match to the fingerprint samples? There's got to be a birth certificate out there somewhere, _some _document that gives us a kick in the right direction. And I know that this isn't a murder investigation or rape charges, but this is an innocent child that we're talking about, and her parents are probably worried to pieces looking for her."

"Well, we'll give her a little more time, and if she still won't answer us, then…"

"She goes into foster care," Talia finished, her voice distant.

* * *

"All right, can you have those files delivered to me by tomorrow? Okay, thanks, Gloria." Bo hung up his phone when there was a knock on his door. "Uh, come in," he called. The door opened, and Chief of Detectives John McBain entered the office.

"Hey, Boss," John greeted casually resting his hands on the back of the chair that was in front of Bo's desk.

"Oh, uh, hey John," Bo replied. He leaned back in his chair, lost in thought. All that was on his mind was that innocent teenage girl that he had no choice but to put into a cell for the night. Was he and Antonio too strict on her? Maybe if he had been a little more gentle, she would have given him the answers that he needed.

"You okay, Boss?" John asked tilting his head to look at the Commissioner in the eye.

"Yeah," Bo replied submissively waving his hand. "It's just, umm, this girl…"

"Paige?"

"No, no, a _girl, _like a teenage girl," Bo corrected. "Sahid found her last night and brought her in, and now she refuses to tell us her name."

"Well, where is she now?"

"She's down in holding now, but how long are we expected to treat her there? Unless she tells us who she is or her fingerprints match with some document, she'll have to go into foster care."

"Foster care? Do you know who will be looking after her?"

Bo sighed. "We don't know yet. First we need to see if we can get a confession out of her, and if she doesn't, then I call Janice Dixon, and she makes the arrangements for her."

John stared down at the floor thinking. "_This girl sounds like some frightened kid," _he thought. "_She has no parents to look after her." _He cleared his throat. "Bo, with your permission, I'd like to meet her. Is that okay?"

Bo looked taken back at John's last sentence. Why would _John, _of all people, want to meet her? He didn't have any kids of his own. He was going to get engaged to his girlfriend, Natalie Buchanan soon and possibly start a family, but Bo never sensed any maternal or paternal instinct from him. What did he think that he was going to accomplish?

"Umm…" Bo cleared his throat. "Uh, sure, Antonio, just ask Wally, and he'll direct you where to go."

"Thanks," John replied curtly leaving the office.

* * *

Lily did not know when, but she remembered the guard coming to wake up Jade in the early hours of the morning to escort him upstairs where his concerned aunt was waiting (Lily could hear her worried and _very _furious voice echoing amongst the metal walls.). Now, at nine thirty in the morning, Lily woke up alone. The rest of the cells were empty, and she had no one to talk to. "_You'd better get used to it," _she told herself. "_You practically begged those cops for this cell."_

As Lily got up from her bed and brushed herself off as if bad germs from the jail cell were crawling over her, the guard, Wally, was coming with the keys whistling to a jolly tune. Lily groaned but still felt relieved. "Please tell me I'm getting out of here!" she begged pulling on her boots and running up to the door.

"That's up for you to decide," Wally replied with a shrug as he unlocked the door. "Right now, Detective McBain would like to talk to you." He slid opened the bar door, but Lily stayed where she was.

"Detective McBain?" she repeated with a raised eyebrow. "Who the hell is Detective _McBain?_"

"I am." Lily's head turned so quickly that her neck cracked. She had not even heard this third man come into the room.

Detective McBain had dark brown hair and stone-cold blue eyes that gave Lily the impression he was reading her mind. He was wearing all black: black pants, black shirt, black belt, black shoes, and to top it all off, a black leather jacket. "_Whoa, this is one scary looking cop,_" Lily thought. "_If he went complete with the black makeup and piercing, he could go Goth."_

"Come on," John said reaching out his arm to push Lily forward. "We'll go up to my office." He started to walk down the narrow hallway.

Lily rolled her eyes and followed. "Like I have a choice," she muttered.

The next few minutes were silent as John and Lily left the holding cell and entered the main part of the police station. They entered another hallway until they were in front of a glass door that read "Lieutenant John McBain, Chief of Detectives." John cleared his throat. "Well, uh, come on in," he said holding the door opened for her.

The office, like the rest of the police station, was painted blue. Picture frames hung on the walls with different people on them: a man with black hair and a nice smile, a woman with long, fiery red hair, a little boy. Lily half expected John to sit behind his desk, order her to sit down in the chair across from her, and start interrogating her, but instead, he sat on the black couch and gestured to the chair opposite of it.

"Have a seat," he offered taking his Eagles football off of the table next to him and tossing it up towards the ceiling and catching it.

Lily took a step but then stopped. John smiled understandingly. "It's okay, I won't bite," he assured her. "I just want to talk to you."

"And by 'talk', do you mean 'interrogate for hours on end?" Lily shot back. She sighed and ran her bony hand through her greasy hair. "I'm sorry, Lieutenant."

"No worries," John replied. "And no, by 'talking' I mean 'talking'. So, are you up for it?"

"I guess so." Lily trudged to the chair and sat down. John could not get a very good look at her because as soon as she sat, she crossed her legs, slumped, and buried her face in her hands. "_Just keep trying to talk to her," _he thought.

"So, uhh, like the holding cell?"

"Yeah, it was great," Lily replied sarcastically. "Of course, it needed a little bit of color, the bed could've been a little comfier, but I'd give it, oh say, zero stars."

John grinned. "Well, don't forget, it's for accused criminals, not teenage girls like you with no where to go."

Lily looked up with defiance. "Excuse _me, _but I have a place to go. I may be on my own, but I am going to make a living for myself. Just before your Officer Sahid found me in that alleyway, I was offered a job."

"Oh yeah?" John said hiding a chuckle behind his hand. "And what job was that, may I ask?"

"Singing."

"Singing?"

"What? I've got an awesome voice, just like my sister…" She clapped her hand over her mouth realizing what she had just said. "_Nice going, you idiot, now they are one step closer to finding out who you really are."_

"Your sister?" John repeated leaning forward and putting his hands on his knees. "Where is she?"

"Umm, I haven't talked to her in a while," Lily admitted. "She's somewhere out of the country with her father probably famous or something." John could see tears in her eyes, but he could not help asking one more question.

"What made you lose contact with her?"

Lily started to cry softly into her hands. "Look, I appreciate what you are trying to do, but I really don't want to talk anymore."

"Okay," John agreed standing up. "You know, I really don't want to bring this up, but this is necessary. We're only allowed to keep you here for twenty four hours unless you tell us who your parents are, so we can bring you home or make other arrangements. But unless you do that, then we have no choice but to put you into foster care."

"J-j-just do whatever you want because I'm not saying any more!" Lily gasped shakily.

John, deciding it was better not to say anything, simply replied, "All right. I'll be right back, okay? Just stay put for one minute." John left the office and closed the door behind him.

The short walk to Bo's office was filled with thoughts of Lily. "_Poor kid," _John thought. "_She has nowhere to go. Her sister probably abandoned her, and she has no parents." _He knocked on Bo's door. "Bo, it's me!" he called.

"Come on in, John," Bo replied from his desk. John walked into the office to see Bo and a middle-aged African American woman with a nice face standing in front of his desk. Bo stood up.

"Antonio, this is Janet Dixon with the Child Protective Services. Ms. Dixon, this is Chief of Detectives John McBain."

"McBain," Janet said extending her hand to shake John's. "Any relation to Michael and Marcie?"

"Yeah, Mike's my brother. I understand you handled their adoption of Tommy."

"Yes, your nephew is a sweet boy. He deserved the best, and that's what Michael and Marcie constantly give him."

Bo walked around his desk. "So, did you get her to open up at all?" He turned to Janet and explained, "She hasn't really talked to anyone since she arrived here."

"Well, uh, nothing much," John replied. "The only thing she said was she had a sister who lived in Europe, but it sounded like the sister had abandoned her."

"Poor kid," Bo sighed. "Well, I guess we'll have to find her a new home."

"We'll get her the most suitable home possible," Janet assured her.

"She's in my office," John told them. He was about to hold the door open for them when he asked, "Bo, is it okay if I take off for a little while? I have to take care of some business, but as soon as I'm done, I'll help you take care of the arrangements."

Bo shrugged. "Uh, go right ahead," he agreed. "Janet, I'll show you to Detective McBain's office, where you can meet the young lady."

* * *

Lily did not know how long John was gone or if he was coming back for that matter. All she did for those few long minutes was sob into her hands wishing that she was dead. How did she get into the predicament? If she could have only hidden when Talia had come by in her car. Maybe then she would've been making a life for herself singing for drug dealers and rapists in dark alleys and street corners.

The door opened, jerking Lily back to Earth. Commissioner Buchanan came in followed by a women whom Lily had never seen before. Bo smiled down at the teenager. "Hi," he greeted awkwardly with a warm smile on his face. He seemed so much nicer and less strict than last night.

"Hi," Lily replied trying not to make eye contact.

"This is Ms. Dixon," Bo continued gesturing to the woman next to him. "She will be handling your arrangements for your future foster parents."

"Oh, uh, hello," Lily said standing up and shaking Janet's hand briefly.

"Hello," Janet replied warmly. "First things first: before we start finding a suitable home for you, I brought some clothes for you. I can tell that you seem a little uncomfortable, so why don't we get something warmer for you to put on. They're in my car?"

"Umm…okay." Lily agreed following Janet out of the office. She did not notice it, but something had fallen out of her pocket as she stepped out of the office. Bo picked it up.

"Hey! You forgot your!" Janet and Lily were already down the hallway, however, and did not hear him. Bo picked looked at it in his palm and observed it. It was a silver locket with a broken chain. He turned it over and gasped. On the front was an engraved name: Hillary Patterson.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

John knocked on the wooden door at the Angel Square Hotel. "_Please let them be home," _he said to himself. When nobody answered, he knocked harder. "_Mike really has to get a doorbell." _

"One minute!" a voice that John recognized as his sister-in-law, Marcie's, called from inside. The door swung open, and Marcie McBain stood there with her son, Tommy McBain, on her hip. "John, hi!" she greeted with a smile. "Come on in."

"Thanks," John replied walking into the apartment. "Hi, Tommy," he said in a soft voice waving to his nephew. He cleared his throat. "Is Mike here?" he asked.

"Yeah, he's in the shower. He should be out in a few minutes. Why, is it important?"

"Kind of. It actually concerns both of you."

Marcie looked confused. "Is it an emergency?"

"No," John sighed. "Think of it as a huge favor to me…and to someone who really needs your help."

* * *

Patterson? This must have been the girl's real name: Hillary Patterson. Bo turned the locket over in his palm and observed it. Somehow, Bo thought that he had heard that name before, but it did not ring a bell.

Without thinking, Bo picked up his phone to call Antonio and tell him to run a background check on the name Patterson, but something inside of him stopped himself. For some reason, the girl did not want anyone to know about her parents. "_Just give her time," _Bo told himself. "_If you leave her alone, maybe she'll open up to someone." _He sat on the edge of John's desk staring off into space.

After a brief knock on the door, Janice briskly entered the room followed by Lily, who was now sporting an oversized (and rather itchy-looking) orange sweater, baggy pale blue jeans, and white keds. Her old, black clothes seemed to have been long forgotten except for her pair of worn, leather boots which were at her side as if they were a teddy bear that was to loved to be thrown away.

"There wasn't any clothes that would fit her," Janice quietly mentioned to Bo gesturing to the large clothes that were on the girl's frail frame. "Hopefully we'll be able to get her sizes and pick out a few things for her before we move her into her new home." She clapped her hands and took out her briefcase. "So! Shall we get down to business?"

* * *

"W-what, I mean, _who _needs our help?" Marcie asked setting Tommy down in his playpen. "What happened? Is it an emergency?"

John thought for a minute. "Well…"

"Marcie!" Michael arrived in the room wearing a button-down shirt and jeans and was toweling his wet hair dry. "Oh, hey, Johnny," he greeted with a casual wave of his hand. He turned to Marcie, who still had a confused expression on her face. "Marcie, what's wrong, honey?"

Marcie was about to answer, but John put his hand on her shoulder. "Umm…why don't we sit down? I have a huge favor to ask you."

Michael squinted at him. "And by huge you mean…"

"Why don't we sit down?"

Michael and Marcie plopped down on the couch hand in hand while John sat across from them in Michael's favorite arm chair. "John, what is this about?" Marcie inquired. All of the sudden, negative thoughts started coming to her head. "_Was someone in trouble? Did someone die? What is he asking us to do?"_

John took a deep breath. "Okay, I'll start from the beginning. Last night at the station, Talia brought in a girl…a teenage girl. Nobody knows who she is or where she is from. She wouldn't tell us anything, and…" John sighed and ran his head through his hair. "We fingerprinted her and everything, and we still could not find her parents."

Michael raised his eyebrow. "No birth certificates, no…I don't know, criminal records?"

"There were no birth certificates to match, and as for criminal records, she claimed that she has never been arrested. Apparently, it was true because we couldn't find any of those either."

"You couldn't find _anything?_" Marcie repeated leaning forward as if hungry for new information. "My God, John, what happened to her? What did she eat? Where did she _sleep_?"

"We fed her, but she still did not eat anything, and as for sleeping, she umm…spent the night down in holding." Knowing that Marcie would be mad at this, John shifted his gaze to Tommy, who was playing around in his playpen.

Marcie's jaw dropped. "You locked her up? This teenage girl spent the night in a jail cell? My god, John, this scared girl was brought in probably not doing anything wrong, and when she was too frightened to tell you who she was, you threw her behind bars?"

"Marcie, honey," Michael interrupted putting his hand over Marcie's, "why don't we let John finish talking?"

"This morning was the first time I met her," John explained looking back at Michael and Marcie. "She was so scared, so _small. _And not physically. It was like I could feel her spirit shrivel up inside of her heart. I feel like I have bonded with her, _everyone _on the force has: Bo, Antonio, Talia."

"So…what happens now?" Marcie wanted to know looking down at her thumbs.

John sighed again. "We were allowed to hold her for twenty-four hours, but she still does not want us to know her true identity, so we have no choice but to put her in foster care."

"Foster care?" Michael repeated in a hoarse whisper.

"Well, where do we come in?" Marcie inquired.

John thought for a moment and gave his brother and sister-in-law a relaxed smile. "How would you two like to be parents again?"

* * *

"Sooo….how does this foster care thing work?" Lily asked stretching out on the couch.

Janice smiled as she pulled out her notebook. "Well, to make a perfect match, we start out with asking questions. Nothing too personal, but general questions like…your likes, dislikes, stuff like that."

"Okay, so where do we start?" Lily looked from Janice to Bo and back to Janice again.

"Well, we could really use a name," Janice said kindly, her pen ready to write down any information. Bo guiltily shifted in his seat, but Lily took no notice to it.

"Okay, I normally wouldn't do this, but considering the circumstances, I'll give you a nickname…a _nickname, _Commissioner, so don't get any ideas. No newspaper has ever used this name, and it was never printed on a legal document. Anyway, you can call me Lily." She fixed a relaxed grin on her face. Bo could hardly believe that this was the same shy girl who had been brought to his office the previous night.

"All right; Lily. What a pretty name. Okay, let's get onto serious matters. Do you have any food allergies?"

"Just that canned cheese stuff. You know, Cheez Wiz or whatever they call it. I mean, who makes sandwiches from stuff squeezed out of a can? No, that's gross, and besides, they make my lips puff out, and people look at me as if I'm the bloody ghost of Christmas past."

Janice got to work copying that down. "All right, any illnesses, any medications?"

Lily shook her head slowly. "Uh-uh. If I had any terminal illness or skipped my, my _medication, _wouldn't I have dropped dead by now?"

Janice nodded as she relayed that to her notebook. "No…illnesses…and/or medications," she muttered. "All right, the fun part. What do you like to do?"

Lily crossed her legs and pondered about this. "What _don't _I like to do?" she shot back with an energetic smile. "The world is so…so _big, _and I want to see every part of it, you know? Every single inch, every centimeter, I will not rest until every particle of soil on this earth have said 'Wotcher' to the bottom of my foot. That's why Officer Sahid found me alone. I was only _exploring, _I'll admit, I was a little ticked off by this whole being brought into the station thing, and this foster home is a road block, but I promise you, as soon as I am released, I'm experiencing the world; the whole freaking world. I mean, I can wait. I've waited fifteen years to get out on my own, what will three more do?" She took a deep, quick breath as if she were going to add onto her monologue, but she stopped. "I'm, uh, done now," she shrugged leaning back onto the couch.

At first, Janice and Bo did not say anything in response, but Bo cleared his throat. "Umm…that's a nice goal, Lily." He felt weird calling her that considering that he had her biological name right in his back pocket.

"Yes, very nice," Janice agreed. "All right, well all we have to do is match you up with foster parents, and…you'll be there before you know it."

Lily's smile started to fade. "Oh…great," she replied with false enthusiasm. She turned to Bo. "Umm, Commissioner, can I just step outside for a moment? I just want to get some air. You know, it's been a rough two days and all."

"Oh, uh…sure," Bo agreed. "Janice and I have to discuss some last minute details anyway. Take as much time as you want, but do me a favor and don't leave the building because there are officers everywhere."

"Oh, I wouldn't dream of it," Lily replied striding confidently from the office. She looked around the hallway until she found an empty conference room with a table and a few chairs. Looking around to check for passing officers, she shut herself into the room. As soon as she locked the door, she sank to the floor and started to openly sob.

* * *

"Parents?" Marcie repeated. She stood up and started to pace the room. "Oh, I don't know. I want to help this girl, but…"

"It won't be permanent, of course," John explained quickly standing up. "Not unless you want it to. No, we just really need to get her settled somewhere. I mean, in a perfect world, Janice would want her adopted and moved in right away, but it cannot work that fast. For now, she needs a place to stay, and…I know you two are great parents. Every day I watch you with Tommy, and I know that from the first time he laid his eyes on you, he knew who his parents were…are…"

Marcie grinned hopelessly. "It's just that…Tommy was a baby, a little boy, and he had no problem adjusting. And this…this girl that you're talking about is in the process of growing up, and she's in the toughest years of her life."

"Marcie…you know all about that stuff," John reminded her. "I mean…you're a high school teacher. You deal with teenagers every day. You're responsible for them."

"I'm only responsible for them from eight thirty to three," Marcie pointed out.

"It's exactly the same," John insisted. "If one of your students came to you for help, would you turn him or her down?"

"N-no."

"I think we should meet this girl," Michael spoke up from the couch.

Marcie looked down at him. "This is stupid," she groaned. "I'm fussing over a situation about a girl whom I've never even met. Michael is right. I want to meet this girl."

* * *

Bo watched as Janice packed her things into her briefcase. "So…what happens now? Where does Lily stay?"

Janice smiled. "We'll find her a temporary home for a few days, and then we'll get her into foster care. If she's lucky, she can even be adopted although from her speech, I really don't think she'd want that."

"No, I don't think so," Bo agreed.

"Well, that's that," Janice said standing up. "I guess all we have to do is wait for Lily to come back, and then she can come to my office. We'll look over some files of some of possible foster parents, and we'll move her into a temporary home tonight." She sighed. "Poor girl. Probably scared to death that she doesn't have any family, and we don't even know who her parents are."

"Yeah, parents," Bo said absent-mindedly.

* * *

Lily's eyes were completely dried out, and she could not get any more tears to come out of them if she tried. She banged her head against the wall a few times. "_This is it," _she thought. "_Now your life completely changes. Oh, God, what did I do to deserve this?" _She stood up and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "_Well, today your life officially changes forever, so there's no turning back now." _She opened the door a little bit and when she did not see anybody coming, she slipped out into the hallway and hurried down the hall. As she was turning the corner, she collided into black leather.

"Sorry," she said quickly, but when she looked up, she realized it was John.

John was not alone. With him was a friendly looking woman with red hair and a man with black hair and a young face that resembled John's.

"Oh, uh, hi, Lieutenant," Lily greeted quickly shuffling her feet.

"Hey," John replied casually. "What are you doing out here…alone?"

"Oh, I wanted to take a walk while Ms. Dixon and Commissioner Buchanan were finishing up my arrangements," Lily explained.

"Oh," John nodded. He gestured to the young couple behind him. "This is my brother, Michael McBain, and his wife, Marcie McBain. Michael, Marcie, this is…"

"Lily," Lily finished for him. She looked up at John, who was looking suspicious. "It's a nickname, so it won't do you any good for background checks." She turned to Michael and Marcie and smiled shyly. "It was nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. McBain."

"Nice to meet you too, honey," Michael said smiling down kindly at her.

"Yeah, I hope we see you again," Marcie added.

Lily nodded briefly and hurried down the hallway. Michael and Marcie stared after her. "That was her?" Michael asked raising his eyebrow. "She didn't seem the least bit frightened."

"She was," Marcie corrected, "couldn't you see it in her eyes?"

John stuck his hands in his pockets. "I know this is a little rushed, but do you two think that you could provide a temporary home for her? At least for tonight? I think parental figures like you two is just what she needs."

Marcie turned back to look at Michael. "Michael, I think John's right. I mean, meeting this girl, meeting Lily, something felt right about it. Maybe we should let her stay with us for a few nights…at least until they can make proper arrangements."

"I think so too, honey," Michael agreed. "I'm getting this feeling deep inside my heart, and I haven't felt it since…well, since we first took in Tommy." He turned to John. "When can she come home with us?"

Lily knocked on the door of John's office briefly and pushed it open. Bo and Janice were staring expectantly at the door as if they were waiting for it to open. "Hi," Lily said softly. Bo noticed that her heavy makeup that was caked onto her face had smudged. "_She's been crying," _he thought.

"Sweetie, I want you to come back to my office for a little bit," Janice said. "This way we can look at some people who have applied to be foster parents. If you want to meet any of them, we'll make a call, and maybe one of them can take you home tonight."

"Oh, umm, okay."

"Okay, come on," Janice beckoned reaching for the doorknob. As soon as she twisted the doorknob, the door opened quickly and there stood Michael, Marcie, and John. "Michael, Marcie, how nice to see you," Janice greeted happily.

"Hi, Janice," Michael replied. "Listen, we need to ask you something, and I'm pretty sure you're the right person to ask."

"Oh." Janice looked a little taken back. "Is it about Tommy?"

"No, it's about Lily," Marcie replied looking down at the young teenage girl. "Janice, we want to take her home tonight."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Janice, Bo, and Lily gaped at Marcie in surprise. Lily turned away when she and Marcie locked eyes for a brief moment. _"They want to take me home tonight?" _she thought to herself. A part of her felt almost comforted by the news while another side of her told her, _"No, they're only going to hurt you like the others did." _What the hell was going on?

"You want to take her home?" Janice repeated slowly, as if she were talking to someone in St. Anne's rather than to Marcie and Michael. "You haven't—"

"We were formerly introduced in the hallway," Michael explained quickly.

Bo shot a look at John as if he were interrogating him silently and then squeezed the locket that was buried in his coat pocket. John, getting the message, cleared his throat and turned to Lily.

"Lily, why don't you go find Officer Sahid and ask her to get you something to eat?" he suggested. "Janice, Michael, Marcie, Bo, and I have to clear up a few things."

"No, are you kidding me?" Lily protested defensively. "This is my life we're talking about here, I'm not about to leave it in the hands of people whom I've known for not even twenty four hours."

"Lily," John warned with a threatening tone in his voice. Lily rolled her eyes and slipped out of the office, grumbling with every step she took. John stared after her for a few moments before turning back to the company in his office. "Janice, you know as well as I do that Michael and Marcie are the most suitable parents out there," he explained, feeling as though his heart was pouring out through the words that were coming out of his mouth. "When I was talking to Lily, she kept sending me this message: she wants to be loved. Michael and Marcie can provide that for her; I know it."

"I don't doubt Michael and Marcie's parenting abilities for one moment," Janice replied softly as if Lily were listening on the other side of the door, "but it is so much more complicated than that, Lieutenant McBain. Michael and Marcie live in an apartment with a toddler son whom they have just adopted last year—"

"We have an extra room in the apartment for one more," Marcie interrupted hopefully. "Right now it is Michael's home office, but we can convert it into Lily's bedroom in a day or two—"

"Look, I don't see why we're making such a big fuss about this," Michael cut in, letting his growing frustration show. "We're not talking about adopting Lily here…at least not at the present moment. Anyway, why don't we just take her home tonight, as we did with Tommy, and see how it goes?"

Janice furrowed her brow, as if pondering this for a moment and then broke into a wide smile. "If anyone can love Lily to the fullest, it's you two."

* * *

"How do you like your coffee?" Talia poured two steaming cups of dark, rich coffee and held it out to Lily.

"Black," Lily replied breathlessly accepting the mug from the officer (Talia opted for cream and sugar in hers.). Lily brought the cup to her lips and took a long sip. Such bliss! One night down in a jail cell could really change a person, and for Lily, it made her appreciate a properly brewed cup of coffee a lot more than she had in the past.

"So, things are heating up in McBain's office, huh?" Talia asked casually pulling two chairs from behind her desk and motioning for Lily to sit down beside her. "I saw John, Michael, and Marcie coming this morning."

Lily stared at her hands, which were sweltering from the scorching mug. "It's really weird," she admitted with a sigh. "I'm this really rotten kid, I nearly punched you when you tried to take me in, I spent the night in a jail cell, and then these two really nice people want to take me into their home. I mean, what is wrong with them? It's almost like they…"

"Like they what?"

Lily thought about this for a moment, looking straight into Talia's eyes, and then looking away. "Like they feel bad for me, that's all."

Talia nodded, understanding exactly why she was upset. _"Lily feels as if she were never loved before," _she thought to herself. "Maybe they just care," she offered simply taking another sip.

"Who the hell would give a damn about me?" Lily shot back. She took a deep, cleansing breath and then exhaled, looking as though she had just released all of her anger in that single sigh.

"Well, I guess the important question is if you want to live with them or not," Talia continued, her eyes fixed on the wall across the room. "One thing I know about foster care is that it should be a good match."

"I didn't really get a chance to talk to them. I mean, I _wanted _to, but just as they were about to discuss where I was going to end up eating and sleeping, John threw me out of his office. I'm like, 'okay, so just go talk about the rest of my life and make all of those choices without my consent.'"

"You really don't look that bothered by the whole thing though," Talia pointed out. "A little pissed off, maybe, but if you were that upset about the whole thing, you'd lock yourself back in that jail cell begging not to be taken by them."

Lily drew in a breath so deep that she thought she was going to choke on it as she slammed her coffee mug on the table. "Look," she said sharply, directly into Talia's eyes, "I'm going into foster care soon, and that means that I am no longer in custody of cops, so you have no right to tell me how I feel throughout all of this. If it wasn't for you, I'd be living the good life in the Bahamas!"

"Lily, I—"

"Just leave me alone." Lily hugged her knees to her chest and cried softly into her jeans.

"Fine," Talia replied simply, deciding that it would be better to let Lily blow off some steam rather than try to get her to talk, like she had done the night before. She lifted her coffee mug and folder from the desk and left Lily on the chair by herself.

For a few moments, Lily felt as if she was alone; she felt like crap, but it would pass. At least she was by herself…until she felt the presence of someone else next to her, someone breathing down her neck. She groaned and wiped her eyes, clearly annoyed.

"I told you I wanted to be alone!" she snapped, but when she looked up, Talia was not standing there.

"I don't think that is a very good idea."

* * *

"Well, that's all over and done with, so let's go find Lily, and we'll just make final arrangements." Janice closed her folder with a wide smile. Michael and Marcie looked nervous but relieved as they held each other's hand and started to follow the social worker. _"This is it," _Marcie thought to herself. _"This is a chance for you to give that girl some love. You can do it, Marcie!" _Janice looked at Marcie and calmly put her hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay to be a little anxious," she reminded her.

"I know," Marcie replied shakily, "I just don't want to screw anything up."

"Marcie, right now, Lily is only spending a few days with us," Michael reminded her gently. "Even if we were to become her foster parents, there is no way that we could screw her up. You're the best mother in the world."

Janice smiled at the couple and turned to open the door, but the doorknob was already turning. Standing at the door was Talia with a worried expression on her face.

"What's the news, Sahid?" Bo asked sidling around Michael and Marcie to get to Talia.

"Lily's not really good," Talia said quickly. "She was fine one minute, and then she started to break down crying. I left her alone for a few minutes, but…I'm scared that she might do something drastic when she leaves the station."

* * *

"Jade?" Lily said in a voice barely above a whisper. Yes, it was the same shaggy blond hair, sparkling gray eyes, and slightly crooked teeth. What was Jade doing in the police station after he was given the opportunity to leave already?

"Lily," Jade replied breathlessly sitting next to her and pulling her into a hug. "You're still here? I thought you'd get out of here already!"

"I thought _you'd _be miles away already!" Lily looked at her former inmate in disbelief. "I heard you leaving last night."

"Oh, my, uh…aunt woke you up," Jade said sheepishly. "Yeah, she's at her office down the hall. She brought me because she didn't trust me at her house with my cousin. I mean, she does still think that I was getting drunk, and she doesn't want my cousin to take after me. Besides, I think he has a girlfriend at home." He giggled as if imitating a gossiping girl. "So, what's up with you?"

"Oh my God." Lily exhaled and leaned back in her chair. "Everything is just _peachy. _I finally get let out of jail to be put into foster care. How did I _get _so lucky?" She closed her eyes and put her hands over her ears as if she were trying to block out the world. Jade slowly peered into her face until Lily opened her eyes and noticed he was there. "What?"

"Umm, I was just wondering…who are you going to live with? I mean, do you know yet?"

"Not really. I mean, Lieutenant McBain's brother and sister-in-law want to let me stay with them. I wanted to hear the rest of the conversation, but I got kicked out, so I don't know what the hell is going on."

"You mean Michael and Marcie McBain? They're really nice, Lily, they're really tight with my aunt and cousin. They have a little boy of their own, and they're always happy. You'll like them, Lily, I know you will."

"Ready to go, Jake?" Jade and Lily looked up with a start to see a redheaded woman standing over them with a calm and somewhat amused smile on her face. Jade cleared his throat quickly and stood up.

"Lily, this is my aunt, Nora Hanen. Oh, excuse me, _District Attorney _Nora Hanen. Aunt Nora, this is my friend, Lily."

"How do you do?" Nora asked extending her hand, firmly shaking Lily's. _"Jake spends one night in a jail cell, and he already has a girlfriend," _she thought to herself. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but we really need to go, Jake. Matthew has a soccer game, and I promised him we won't be late again."

"Okay," Jade replied rolling his eyes, but his grin told Lily that he secretly enjoyed having a family and a cousin's soccer game to go to. He turned to leave, but he quickly turned around. "Lily, I forgot to give you those seven numbers from the fortune cookie."

"What?" After spending the night in a cell next to Jade, Lily thought she was prepared for all of his quirks, but this time, he totally had her lost.

"_Remember?_" Jade said sharply as if they were trying to hide something from Nora.

"Oh, um, okay."

Jade took out a pen and scribbled something on Lily's right hand. "See you around," he whispered shyly following Nora, who was trying to stifle her laughter, out of the room.

Lily glanced at her hand and rolled her eyes, realizing what the seven "fortune cookie numbers" were. Jade had left his phone number for her! Lily grinned to herself before returning to reality: she was about to be taken into foster care against her will. _"Damn, I wish that Jade could have stayed," _she thought to herself. _"He always makes things perky when it is as depressing as Hell." _Immediately, she reached for her cell phone to play Solitaire, but she realized that Antonio had confiscated it the previous night.

"Damn it!" She stood up to return to John's office to see what was going on, but before she could do anything, she was stopped by someone.

"Before you go parading into John's office, Ms. Know-It-All, you and I need to get something straight."

* * *

"Something drastic? What are you talking about, Sahid?"

"Commissioner, we have been so hard on her, and when Lily got upset just now, she looked as if she were having a panic attack. I don't think this is all emotional right now; I think this is starting to get to her mentally. She needs—"

"What she needs is someone to talk to," John interrupted from the corner of the room. "I mean, we're all adults, and to a kid, that's like hacking into someone's mind. Kids need space, especially that young lady. Maybe if we got one of her friends to talk to her—"

"We don't _know _any of her friends, John!" Talia exclaimed. "She was in jail last night, not a social gathering! We don't know anyone who could talk to her!"

"I know someone," Bo spoke up. "Nora's nephew was in the jail cell next to Lily's last night. Wally told me that he heard them talking all night. Today, she was more confident, but then that all started to wear down. I think Jake gave her a certain sense of security."

"Well, Commissioner, Michael and I are good friends with Nora," Marcie pointed out taking a confident step forward. "I mean, you know that. We have been seeing Jake all of the time, and I'm sure if he finds out that Lily is coming to live with us, he'll definitely be over every day."

"I don't see Lily being in any immediate danger, at least not yet," Janice added. "One of the processes we have to go through before Michael and Marcie can take her home is a psychiatric examination. If she passes, you can take her home with no problem. If there are problems, we'll have to get her a psychiatrist and take it from there." As Janice checked her watch, Talia rolled her eyes. _She _knew exactly what Lily needed, not that social worker. She grabbed her clipboard and left the office without a sound.

"Well, I think Lily has waited long enough, don't you?" Janice said brightly beckoning for Michael and Marcie to follow her. "If we get to my office soon, you can have her home in the next two hours." On that note, Janice, Michael, and Marcie left the office. John went to follow him when he turned around to look at Bo.

"You coming, Boss?" he asked.

Bo cleared his throat quickly. "Yeah, I'll be right there," he replied in a hurried voice, "but I just need to stop in my office for something. I'll be there before Janice releases Lily."

"Right, Boss." When John left the office and closed the door behind him, Bo pulled out the locket and looked at it.

"Okay, Hillary Patterson, who are you, and what are you doing in Llanview?"


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Excuse me?" Lily said looking up at the woman who had approached her. She had red hair with a very pissed off look. _"Okay, this woman, whom I've never met before, comes over to me and tells me that we have unfinished business? What the hell?"_

"John's doing the best he can to make sure that you can get to the best home possible," the woman continued, "and you're not making it any easier for him, so before you go off complaining about your discomfort in the 'scary old police station,' get your priorities straight."

"Yeah, one of them might be to find out your name and why the hell you care?"

"Natalie Buchanan, Forensics Tech," the woman started, "niece of Commissioner Buchanan, sister-in-law of Detective Vega, and fiancé to _Lieutenant _John McBain. I know all about you, Lily, and I know that everybody is just doing what's best for you."

"Yeah, but what's best for me is more like a slap in the face," Lily interrupted. "They're talking about me like I'm only a month old and can't make decisions for myself. I mean, I'm going to be in high school in two months, I think that makes me a qualified adult."

"Wait until you're eighteen, kid," Natalie advised her, "and furthermore—"

"Nat, now's not the time." John had appeared at Natalie's elbow. "Lily, Janice, Michael, and Marcie are in the Child Service's Office. It's just down the hall, so I'll take you there right now."

Lily shook her head, glaring at Natalie. "Whatever," she said rolling her eyes. John grinned at Natalie if to say, "Give her a break," and led Lily from the room.

* * *

"Patterson, Patterson," Bo mumbled as he sat down at his desk. _Why _did he think he heard that name before? He never knew a Patterson; yet it was a very common surname, and Hillary Patterson could be anyone. He pulled up the Internet and typed in "Patterson, Hillary." "All right, Lily," he said leaning back as dozens of articles started to pop up, "one of these has got to be you."

* * *

"Okay, Lily, you and the McBains have not been able to talk; you know, get to know each other, see what you have in common." Janice relaxed a notebook on her lap and smiled warmly at Lily. So far, Lily did not like the office. It was comfortable and inviting, but it reminded her two much of the psychiatrist's office that she used to go to, and she had _bad _memories from that. "Michael, Marcie, this can be a time for you two to ask Lily some questions," Janice continued, "and Lily, if you have any questions for Michael and Marcie, you can do so now." 

For a moment, Michael, Marcie, and Lily just stared at each other awkwardly until Michael cleared his throat. "So, uh, Lily…how old are you exactly?"

"I'll be fifteen in a few weeks," Lily replied in a monotonous tone. "I'm going to be a freshman in high school…that is, if I had graduated…"

"You're not in school anymore?" Michael and Marcie exchanged glances.

"I never dropped out," Lily explained. "I just told my principal that I had to move, he gave me my diploma, and I left Baltimo—I left home." _"Damn it," _she cursed silently to herself. Hopefully, Michael and Marcie would ignore that comment and would not tell John. _"Good thing Janice threw John out at last minute."_

The rest of the interview went on with Michael and Marcie asking questions and Lily sullenly answering them. When the McBains had run out of questions to ask, Janice closed her notebook. "I guess that is really it," she said checking her watch. "I guess the main question is, Lily, do you feel comfortable going home with Michael and Marcie?"

* * *

"Go fish." 

Viki Davidson slammed down her pile of cards. _"I can't believe that I have nothing to do but play cards with my brother," _she thought to herself. Her younger brother, Todd Manning, looked at her with an amused look on his face.

"Aw, come on Viki, I know you love spending time with your favorite brother," Todd said playfully smacking Viki on the arm. "Besides, this will get your mind off of Clint, and this will get my mind off of Blair." When Viki answered with a tired and annoyed expression, Todd gathered up the cards. "Okay, we'll play Black Jack instead. Do you want to deal?"

Just then, the doorbell rang, and expression leaped into Viki's eyes. "Saved by the bell!" she sang as she almost two gleefully got up from the table to answer the door. "Who is it?"

"It's me, Mom." Viki opened the door, revealing Natalie.

"Natalie, darling! Come in!" Viki stepped aside, allowing her daughter to come into Llanfair. "I thought you were working at the Police Station today."

"I was," Natalie replied dropping her purse on the countertop, "but Uncle Bo didn't need me anymore, so I decided to come see my mother." She had finally noticed Todd, who was sitting at the table shuffling the cards. "And my uncle, I guess; Todd."

"Natalie," Todd replied with a smirk on his face. "Wanna play poker? I mean, Viki and I are playing because we feel sorry for ourselves, but you're going to be a McBain soon, so I guess you're gonna have to get some good poker skills, and who better to learn from than Uncle Todd?"

"No, thanks," Natalie replied, "I already rock at poker…but if you need any pointers, Todd, I'll try to clear up my enormously busy schedule."

Todd snickered playfully dealing the cards between the three of them. "So, Nat, any gossip from the boys in blue?"

"_Todd_," Viki groaned.

"Actually, the strangest thing happened," Natalie replied. "Todd, does Starr know anyone named Lily?"

"Lily? Hmm…Lily…doesn't ring a bell. Viki, got any kings?"

"Go fish."

"Damn it!"

"_Anyway,_" Natalie continued, "Talia Sahid brought this fifteen-year-old girl into the station last night; she was out after neighborhood curfews, and no one knew who she was. Apparently, she didn't come from Llanview."

"_Fascinating _story, Natalie. Viki, got any two's?"

"Go fish."

"_Damn it!_"

"Wait, I want to hear the rest of this," Viki said turning to Natalie. "Did they ever find out who she was, Darling?"

"No. Talia tried, Antonio tried, Bo tried; nothing worked. She just told them that she would rather be in jail then at home."

"Hmm…has she ever been on death row?"

"_Todd._"

"_As I was saying_; she spent the night down in holding—"

"Did she even do anything?" Viki interrupted.

"Well, umm…I guess it was because she had nowhere to go, and she did try to assault a police officer—"

"Sounds like one smart chick," Todd grinned.

"So, where is she now?" Viki wanted to know.

"She has to go into foster care," Natalie replied. "Michael and Marcie are taking her home tonight, and we'll see where it goes from there."

"And what did she say her name was?" Viki asked.

"Lily."

"Lily…no, it doesn't ring a bell."

* * *

"No, that can't be it." Bo exited out of one of the articles and buried his face in his hands. _"At this rate, I'll never know who she is,"_ he thought worriedly. He clicked on the next article; the last article. "This has got to be it!" he exclaimed excitedly scanning the article. "Hillary Patterson was born seven pounds two ounces on July 5th, 1992 in Baltimore General Hospital to parents Richard Patterson and new wife—" He stopped abruptly, checking to see if he read the mother's name right. "Oh my God! Lily…Hillary…is _your _daughter."

* * *

"How'd it go?" John asked as Lily as she hurried out of Janice's office followed closely by Michael and Marcie. 

"Fine," Lily replied curtly.

"We're going to go home right now, actually," Marcie added, her broad grin annoying her new temporary foster daughter. "Do you want to go with us, John?"

"Nah, this is your time to get to know each other better," John refused. "I'll stop by tomorrow to say hi; I'll walk you guys to your car."

"Thanks, Johnny," Michael said softly, "you know, for everything."

John grinned. "You bet." Together, the two brothers followed Marcie and Lily back into the main lobby of the police station, where Bo, Talia, and Antonio had gathered to see Lily off.

"Ready to go?" Marcie asked putting her hand on Lily's shoulder.

"Yep," Lily replied looking around and trying to avoid everyone's eyes, "I never want to set foot in this freakin' place again." As the people around her tried to stifle their laughter, Talia stepped forward.

"I want you to be good, okay? Michael and Marcie are great people; they'll take care of you, and you'll be just fine. And if you ever need an ear, you can always stop by, but I really don't think that you'd want to."

"We wouldn't mind a visit though," Antonio added, his face amused.

"_Why the hell are these people treating me like their freaking family?" _Lily thought. _"I was a chick who spent the night in their holding cell, big deal! They don't have to get all weepy on me because I'm never going to see them again if I can help it!"_

"Well, Lily…it's been interesting," Antonio said trying to find the right words to use in this situation. "Remember, if you ever need help, you know where to find me."

Lily had just stopped herself from snapping, "Shut the hell up, I've heard this speech already!" But only just.

Finally, Bo stepped forward. "Best of luck, Lily," he said softly. "Before you go, I want to know if there is anything you want to tell me. Anything?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "You know, Commissioner, thanks for the offer, but I'm really tired. I should go ho—to the McBains' house."

"Thank you all for taking care of Lily," Marcie added. "Umm, I guess we should get going now."

Lily took one last glance around the police station. It _had _been like a home to her, at least for those eighteen hours that she had been there. She did not want to stay, but she had absolutely no desire to go with the McBains. _"If only I had been better at hiding. I wouldn't be in this freaking mess."_

Following Michael and Marcie, she walked out of the station, her old prison, just awaiting to see what her new one was like.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"You know, it was kind of sad to see her off," Antonio said wistfully as he, Talia, Bo, and John watched the door close behind Michael, Marcie, and Lily. "She was starting to grow on me. Oh, well." Antonio walked away, followed closely by Talia, leaving Bo and John.

"I have to leave town for a few days," Bo said quietly so only John can hear. "I got a call, and I think I'd better go rather than send someone out."

"Are you sure?" John asked. "I'm sure someone else would rather go for you."

"No, I think it would be easier if I made the trip myself. Can you hold down the fort for me while I'm gone?"

"Sure thing, Boss."

"Okay; excuse me; I have a flight to catch. See you in a few days, John."

"See you, Bo."

Bo gathered his things from his office and checked the address that he had printed out from his computer. "All right, Ms. Patterson, I'm going to take you back to your daughter."

* * *

"That's the Palace Hotel right there."

Lily sighed. Ever since she, Michael, and Marcie had gotten into the car, Marcie had been pointing out everything there was to see in Llanview: a bar called Rodi's, a nice looking country club, and a night club called Capricorn were on the list. _"Damn, I wish I had my cell phone," _she thought. _"I could be texting Jade right now or something instead of listening to the tour of Llanview: the Least Pleasant Place in the Northeast."_

"And here we are in Angel Square. Our apartment is right there." Michael had pulled into the parking lot outside of the building as Marcie helped Lily out of the car. She put her arm around Lily and pointed to a statue of an angel in the middle of the park. "Cristian Vega, a local artist, sculpted that. He's very talented. Maybe you can meet him soon. Are you interested in art?"

"If by 'art' you mean designing tattoos, then yes, I am."

"That's the Angel Square Diner right across the street. Cristian's mother, Carlotta, owns it."

"She makes the best paella in town," Michael added rubbing his stomach and licking his lips as if he could just taste the delicious Spanish food. "Do you want to get something to eat before we go upstairs? You must be hungry."

"Umm…no thanks, I'm not feeling well."

"Are you okay? What hurts?" Michael put his hand on Lily's forehead.

_"Damn it, I forgot, he's a doctor. Now he's going to get all…'docterish' on me." _

"Hmm…you don't have a fever."

"Oh, umm…"

"Just nervous, huh?" Michael gave her an understanding smile.

"Yeah…just nervous."

"It's okay, Honey. We're a little nervous too."

"But we're glad you could come home with us," Marcie smiled warmly. "Why don't we go upstairs now? There is someone who we'd like you to meet."

When the threesome went inside of the building, they were immediately greeted by a fifty-year-old woman with wild blonde hair and a bottle of vodka.

"Hey, hey, hey, M and M!" she greeted enthusiastically dancing around her desk. "I was wondering when you two would get home! Little Tike won't shut up upstairs; he wants Mommy and Daddy. Lindsay's been walking him around all day, but it did no good. I told her to use the vacuum cleaner trick, but she said it gave her a migraine." She took a swig of vodka when she noticed the girl that was standing with Michael and Marcie. "Hey, who is this cute little chick you have here? I've never seen her struttin' round Llanview before."

Lily immediately turned red and immediately hated herself for blushing. When had she gotten so shy? She looked up at Michael and Marcie, as if asking them silently to introduce her to the woman instead of introducing herself.

"Roxy, this is Lily. She'll be staying with us for a few days, maybe longer if everything works out. Lily, this is Roxanne Balsom. She owns the Angel Square Hotel."

Roxy's eyes became animated again. "Michael, Marcie, are you adopting her? _That _would be so awesome!" She turned to Lily and grabbed her hands. "Babe, if you need anything, just call on Auntie Roxy, okay? I own a hair salon too, so anytime you want to change your look, I'll give you a freebie: highlights, manicures…if you want to shave your head, that's fine and dandy too."

Marcie noticed that Lily started to look uncomfortable. "Umm…Roxy, we'll do that some other time. We're just going to go upstairs, so we'll see you later."

"Nice meeting you," Lily managed to say."

"You too, sweet pea. Now, where did I put my vodka?"

It was silent up the next few flights of stairs, exactly how Lily wanted it. Finally, Michael had gotten out his key out and started to unlock the door. Lily immediately froze; she did not doubt that Michael and Marcie were nice people, but how could Bo and John expect her to come live with them after only talking to them for a little while? Before Michael could unlock the door, the knob was already turning, and a blonde woman had greeted them.

"Hello!" she greeted warmly, but Lily noticed that she looked a little tired. "Tommy had just gotten to sleep," she whispered to Marcie before turning to Lily. "And you must be Lily," she continued. "Hi, I'm Lindsay Rappaport, Michael and Marcie's friend."

"It's nice to meet you." Lily felt a sense of security around Lindsay rather than Roxy so she could introduce herself.

"I'm sorry that I cannot stay and chat, but I've really got to get going," she said grabbing her purse. "RJ and I are meeting at the Palace, so I'll catch you guys later." After giving them a final wave, Lindsay left the apartment, leaving Michael, Marcie, and Lily all alone in the living room of the apartment.

After what seemed like forever, Lily heard a baby crying, and Marcie hurried into the other room to intend to him. After a few seconds, Marcie reemerged carrying an adorable baby boy. "Lily, this is Tommy," Marcie introduced holding the baby out to Lily. "Michael and I adopted him a year ago."

Tommy, who had been wailing with sobs, looked at Lily and immediately stopped crying. Lily stepped back in surprise. _"The kid stopped crying when he saw me…damn it, something must be wrong with me." _Tommy had begun to reach his arms out trying to embrace the teenager.

"I think he wants to say hello to you," Marcie grinned. She paused for a moment and then added, "Would you like to hold him?"

"Well, I don't know, I mean, I've never—"

"Come on, I'm sure he'll love it." Marcie gently passed Tommy into Lily's arms.

It was the best feeling ever; holding Tommy in her arms reminded Lily what it felt like to be in her parents' arms when she was little. Her father chuckling merrily, proud of his young daughter…her mother with tears of joy in her eyes after having the baby against her doctor's wishes…her brother and sister running around asking to play with their little sister. All of the memories were there, but the love was not…at least not anymore.

* * *

"May I help you, sir?"

Bo jerked to attention, noticing a short, young man at his elbow. He had arrived at Florida half an hour ago and was now standing in a shabby apartment building being approached by an eager looking man.

"Yes. Yes you can. I'm looking for a woman who goes by this name." He took out a slip of paper and showed it to the man. The man's eyes widened in surprise.

"Yes…yes she is. That's funny; she told me that all of her family has passed away. Are you a family member?"

"Well…I used to be. Can you take me up to her room?"

"Of course, sir, just follow me." The man led Bo up several flights of wooden, creaky stairs that looked as if they were going to crack with one step. Finally, they reached room 1207, the room that Lily's mother would be in. The man knocked on the door.

"Come in," a tired voice called from inside of the hotel room. The man opened the door partially, lighting up the darkened room.

"Mrs. Patterson, there is someone here to see you," the man said kindly. "He…used to be a part of your family, he says."

"What? I…send him in, Arthur, thank you."

The man, Arthur, stepped aside allowing Bo to enter the room. "I'll be downstairs," he told him before disappearing down the staircase. Bo silently entered the room, taking a good look at the woman; she had blonde hair that was twisted into many tangles and knots. Her once beautiful and flawless face was red and blotchy making her look like she had been sobbing for hours on end. Her simple outfit was composed of a T-shirt and a pair of sweatpants. Most of all, the expression on her face was anything but happy to see Bo.

"Bo," her voice managed to squeak, sounding annoyed, furious, shocked, and somewhat relieved.

"Hello, Mrs. Patterson," Bo replied with a relaxed smile on his face. "It's so great to see you again. Or should I say Tina Clayton Lord?"

* * *

"I think Tommy is down for the count," Michael whispered rejoining Marcie and Lily in the living room. "He fell right asleep in your arms, Lily."

"Ha," Lily replied sheepishly, pretending to care. She was still extremely uncomfortable, and Marcie noticed that right away.

"Sweetie, why don't I get you something to drink? You look a little pale to me."

"No, really, Marcie, you really don't have to—"

"No, I think Marcie's right," Michael interrupted. "Come on, you need to drink something. Doctor's orders." He winked at Marcie, who had gotten up and left for the kitchen. Michael leaned back and stretched out his arms, his eyes closing when his long, dramatic yawn sounded. When his eyes opened again, he noticed that Lily was sitting, hunched over with her arms folded across her chest. "You okay, Honey?"

"What? Oh yeah. I mean, I'm fine."

"You sure? I mean, you didn't look as happy when Tommy fell asleep."

Lily thought about her words for a moment. "It's just…" She heaved a loud sigh. "I really don't know how to put this in the right words. Tommy…is just so lucky. He has rocking people as his parents. Me? Sure, I grew up well. I had two terrific parents, a brother, and a sister who all loved me…but that all dissolved. My brother is off fulfilling his life's wishes, my sister is somewhere out of the country, my mother is dead, and my father…God knows where he was. None of them care about me. If they did, I'd be safe at home with them." Suddenly, her forming tears turned into anger. "I hate them," she said sharply. "They pretended to love me when all they did was hurt me. That's all they wanted to do! I hate them!"

At first, Michael did not know what to do. He had dealt with teenage girls before; heck, he had dozens going in and out of the hospital every day…but he had never been responsible for one of their lives before. How would he know how to help her, to comfort her when she needed him? Yet, something in his head told him that he could do it.

Michael put his arm gently around Lily's shoulders, careful not to startle the sobbing girl. "You're not alone," he whispered softly. "You're not alone. Honey, can you listen to me for one minute? Just one minute? Listen, sweetie." Gradually, Lily lifted her head, which felt two tons heavier than normal. "Listen to me; it does not matter who your parents are or what they did to you. People don't judge you on who your family is; they judge you on who _you _are on the inside? Don't let anybody define you by genetics because genes are just science. Okay?" Through tears, Lily nodded briskly. "Atta girl," Michael murmured letting Lily sob into his chest. When Marcie walked in to give Lily her glass of water, she thought she saw a tear in Michael's eye too.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"Tina Lord Patterson…I guess that would be your full name, wouldn't it? Well, Tina Clayton Lord Roberts Rogan Vickers Patterson, in more technical terms."

"Bo," Tina groaned sinking down onto the bed. How? When? Why? What was Bo Buchanan doing in her apartment?

"So, I believe your latest husband is Richard Patterson, is he not? Funny, when your daughter came to Llanview a few years ago, she seemed to mention something about you and Cain Rogan getting back together?"

"Well, I—"

"Unless," Bo continued, raising his voice to warn Tina that he was not going to tolerate being interrupted, "that was never true at all."

"You…you don't know the whole story."

"Well, I'd like to hear it. Right here. Right now."

* * *

"Are you feeling better?" Marcie asked brightly as Lily emerged from the McBains' bathroom.

"Yeah…I really don't know what had gotten into me before," Lily said sounding as if she had a head cold. She accepted the cool glass of water that Marcie offered her and drank it down in one sip. "I mean, my family, my past is just…the past, I guess. The only person I have to worry about is me."

"It's okay to cry though," Michael spoke up. "I mean, all that anger, fear, resentment that you have towards your family…it's all gotta go somewhere…and I think this family knows that especially."

"Although the McBains aren't exactly cut out for talking," Marcie finished.

Lily gave a short laugh and looked down at her knees. It _was _okay to cry; at least it was okay for anyone but her.

"I have an idea," Marcie said standing up. "It's your first night here, and we don't have any new stuff for you yet. What do you say to going out shopping for new clothes and maybe some sheets and a comforter for your new bed?"

Although Lily tried to suppress it, she could not help grinning. "I love that idea."

* * *

"It all started when I moved to Baltimore," Tina started, looking down at her shaking hands that were desperately holding onto the cup of coffee that Bo had offered her. "I wanted to get away from Llanview…from Cord, from David, from my family, from my past. I didn't want to be a Lord anymore. I wanted to be someone else. So, when I was done with work, I would get a babysitter to watch the kids, and I'd go out with my friends. They'd introduce me to guys, and I met this really great guy…his name was Richard Patterson. He was…" Tina took a large breath. "…cool, sexy, smart, funny…and rich. Anything you'd want in a guy. We had one date and really hit it off. The kids liked him, and I was falling in love with him." She paused for a moment, letting the memories flood back into her mind.

"Then one day changed everything. I was…late…I didn't tell anyone about it, and I went to the doctor, and I found out that I was pregnant; about four months along at the time! For a brief moment, I was the happiest person in the world; memories came back about being in Llanview with my family and friends, my two great kids, Cord…and I realized that I was living in Baltimore with CJ and Sarah and was dating a man who had never been a father."

"But Richard…was the father, right?"

"Well, being told that I was four months along was the tip off. I mean, we had only been dating for so long…he was spending almost every night at my house! Something in my heart told me that Richard was the father, but still, I could not help doubting that information, so I took Richard's hairbrush and had it tested."

"Did you ever look at the results?"

"I wish I hadn't," Tina admitted, looking helpless. "I just had to know...so, I went to the doctor, and…she gave me the worst news in my life. The baby inside of me was not the child of the man that I love."

"So, what did you do then?"

"What could I do? I told Richard the news that I was pregnant." She paused for a moment, as if struggling to find the right words to tell her biography. "And right when I spat out those three words, that was it. He was…over the moon about it. All I could do was helplessly stand there as he ran through the house cheering and giving the news to my kids…"

"How did CJ and Sarah react?"

"They were overjoyed!" Tina sighed, smiling for the first time since she had seen Bo. "They could not stop asking me questions like if the baby was a boy or a girl or whose room it had to share. Finally, Sarah asked if Richard and I were going to get married now that we were going to have a child together. Of course we shook that question off—"

"But eventually it happened?"

Tina smiled a bit wider. "The next day, I came home from work to find Richard kneeling on the ground with a ring. He asked me to marry him. Of course, I could not refuse. I loved him. After a few days, I decided that it did not matter who the father was. What mattered was that Richard and I were going to raise a child together."

"So _nobody _except for Sarah, CJ, and your husband knew that you were pregnant? What about Cord…or…or Viki?"

"I asked my children not to mention this to their father," Tina answered in a strained voice, "and I haven't spoken to Viki in years. Besides, I was so happy, I thought that if all of Llanview knew, it would be bad luck."

"Well, that's bull. Tina, you were living a lie. You have a brother and a sister in Llanview who do not know that you had gotten married or had another child. My God, you asked your _kids _to lie for you."

"I regret everything that I put my children through," Tina replied breathlessly.

The two of them stared at each other awkwardly before Bo cleared his throat and said, "Very well, continue."

"That summer, I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. I named her Hillary…it means cheerful, and that's what I felt every time I looked into the eyes of my daughter. Cheerful and happy and joyous and…relieved to be alive. Richard was the best father you'd ever find, and CJ and Sarah adored their little sister."

"What happened?"

"Cain came to Baltimore to find me." The smile had disappeared and was replaced by tear-filled eyes. "I was so happy to see him! I missed Llanview so much, and just seeing someone I trusted was just great…but Richard didn't really think so."

"He thought that you and Cain were going to get romantic again."

"I kept denying it…but Richard kept insisting, and he kept setting traps for Cain and me to meet up…he wanted to see if he was tempting us to kiss…if he had never done it before, he wouldn't have pushed Cain and I closer together."

"You mean—?"

"Richard was out on a business trip, and Cain and I spent one night together. One night…but…"

"Richard came home earlier than planned."

"Just my luck, huh?" She plucked a pillow off of her bed and hugged it close to her. "He caught us right then and there. He kicked me out, and he wouldn't let me take my daughter with me."

"That was at the same time Sarah came back to Llanview?"

"Well, I had thought my marriage with Richard was over," Tina confessed. "I told CJ and Sarah that I was in love with Cain, and they thought that we were back on. I didn't want to give up on my marriage to Richard, but I thought there would be a custody battle coming up…when I realized something…"

"Hillary wasn't Richard's child."

"Lily," Tina corrected through tears. "Richard gave her that nickname because she was always putting water lilies in her hair."

"Well, did you tell Richard?"

"No. The next day, he called me, and…he forgave me. It was the most miraculous thing in the world. This time I was devoted to my marriage."

"You were devoted to the ruse that was your life," Bo added.

"Well, what was I going to do? I could not let Richard destroy his life and my daughter's while he was at it…oh, if only I had taken Lily and ran that night…"

"Why? What happened?"

"Richard didn't really forgive me that day. He was doubting my loyalty to him, and he was doubting my daughter because of _my _mistakes, so…he decided to…take a DNA test." She blew the bangs out of her face. "All Hell broke loose that day. While my marriage to the man I thought I love was a lie, he found out that he had not fathered my child…and decided that he was going to punish _her _for it."

Bo's eyes widened. "You mean…"

Tina was sobbing openly now. "Every day! Every day for the past three years, he has been…abusing her! Hurting her, and I didn't even know about it! Bo, my husband was raping my daughter!"

Bo just sat there for a moment; that whole time Lily was in their care, she was trying a mend a heavy heart, broken by the man that she called her father! Tears almost started to form in Bo's eyes. In those brief few hours, he felt as if he had gotten to know Lily; everyone on the force had. What kind of monster would do that to her?

Finally, Tina continued. "I was working night shift at the time because one of my coworkers was on maternity leave. I thought it was great; I would be with my family during the day, and then I'd work at night; if only I was home more! Every night when I'd leave for work, Richard would lock himself and Lily in our bedroom, and he'd…he'd…" Bo gave her a nod that he knew that she was trying to say. "…all night long until she finally fell asleep with that fear and hurt and confusion! I was never there for her! And every night when I came home, my husband would wait up for me…tell me he loved me…when he really didn't love me or my daughter!" She blew her nose before continuing. "The next day, I wasn't feeling well, so instead of going to work, I went to the doctor. I was pregnant again!" She was smiling at the memory, but tears were still pouring out of her eyes like a fountain. "I didn't even show up for work that night…I just came right home to tell him the news. So, I opened the door, and I heard screaming…it was Lily. I opened the door, and what I saw…it's still vivid in my mind! My daughter lying in that bed, all of that fear on her face! And my husband…his one hand on her mouth, trying to muffle her screams, and his other hand on her knee preventing her from getting up! I was at a loss for words; I mean, what can you possibly say when you see your husband in bed with your teenaged daughter?" She shook her head in confusion, as if she were about to break down at any moment.

"Tina…" Bo was about to ask another question, such as, "Did Richard know about the baby" but he decided against it, just for now. However, Tina seemed to have read his mind.

"I didn't know what to say; I pried my husband off of my daughter and kept punching him, cursing at him, trying to kill him, and Lily escaped from the room, scared to death. And then, when I was screaming at Richard, it just slipped out. I told him I was pregnant."

"So…of course…"

"All I could do was take Lily and leave that house. I needed to raise my teenaged daughter and that new baby alone. Richard let us go without a fight…but he wanted that baby. And Lily…oh my God, she didn't know what was going on! She just thought that her daddy hated her. We drove as far as we had to until we felt safe, but that didn't stop Richard. While we were running away, he went to my doctor and got a DNA test. He found out that he was the father and automatically thought that the baby was his property."

"So then…"

"Lily and I were asleep when…they came…we thought we were so well hidden, but they found us. They had broken into our motel room…we didn't know who they were, Bo. Richard wasn't among them, but I knew he had orchestrated this whole thing. He was a business man, after all, and he had ties to a lot of people around the country." She attempted to stifle her second round of tears, but she could not help them from coming down. "I tried to protect Lily…I told them to take me instead. I thought they were going to kill me. The next thing I knew, I had woken up in this hotel with no memory except I had a baby inside of me. I had no idea where Richard, CJ, Sarah, and Lily were."

"Tina, why didn't you come home?" Bo asked the question that had been anxious to come out of his mouth. "You have so many people in Llanview who cared about you. Viki, Asa, Clint, me…"

"I wanted to," Tina admitted glumly, "but then I got a knock at the door. When I opened it, there was a newspaper article." She opened the drawer of her nightstand to reveal a piece of paper that looked as if it were cut out of a newspaper. She thrust it at Bo. "You've probably already seen it."

"'Murder. On April 4, 2007, Richard James Patterson, once a respectful community member of Baltimore, Maryland, murdered stepchildren Clinton James and Sarah Roberts and daughter Hillary "Lily" Patterson before committing suicide in Chicago, Illinois.' Where the hell did you get this, Tina?"

"I don't know!" Tina bawled, barely able to hold it together. "Someone who was trying to torture me, obviously! I was so upset, and the memories just come flooding back to me: Richard and my marriage, Lily's rape, _everything! _All I could do was run; get out of this damn hotel, you know? So, I ran out, but I was so upset, I could hardly see where I was going, so when I got to the stairs—"

"The baby," Bo groaned.

"I miscarried the baby, yes." Tina looked straight into Bo's eyes. "That's four children now. CJ, Sarah, Lily, and now…it was a baby boy, you know. I was going to name him Jason; it means healer…and that little boy was going to heal my broken heart."

For a moment, Bo did not know what to do. Who would let Tina believe that her three children were dead, causing her to miscarry her fourth child? Silently, he held out his arms, letting Tina fall into them, letting her know that everything was going to be okay.

After a while, Tina straightened up. "That's why you're here, isn't it, Bo?" she asked wiping her eyes. Her face looked shriveled up as if she had cried all of the tears that her face had held. "I didn't go to CJ and Sarah's funeral. Cord must have told you to come find me. Everyone must have thought about what a monster I was for not going." Suddenly, she looked defensive. "I'm going to regret that every day for the rest of my life but—"

"Tina, I need you to relax because there is something I need you to know," Bo interrupted, his voice urgent. "CJ and Sarah are not dead, Tina."

Tina was about to say something in defense, but she stopped and looked into Bo's eyes. "What the hell are you…?"

"CJ and Sarah are fine…probably scared to death that they haven't heard from you." Bo's face smiled slightly. "CJ is out on a new job opportunity, and Sarah is in Europe with Cord."

Half of Bo expected Tina's hair to turn white in shock while the other half thought that she was going to pass out…but she just sat there, as if thinking hard about the subject. "I know," she whispered softly. "I think I've always known. Somewhere, in the back of my head, something told me that they were alive and well. I was going to come home, but…I was scared that if I did, I would face the reality that CJ and Sarah really were dead." She paused for a moment, and then looked back up at Bo. "And Lily? Bo, where is she? Please tell me that Richard didn't take her!"

"Lily's safe," Bo assured her with a sad sigh. "Tina, she showed up at the Llanview Police Station last night with nowhere to go; she had to spend the night down in holding—"

"My _daughter _spent the night in a jail cell?" She stood up quickly, opened the drawers of her dresser, and started to throw clothes into her suitcase. "Where is she now? I need to go see her. Bo, I need to see her _now._"

Bo sighed heavily and gently laid his hand on Tina's shoulder. "I don't think it is a great idea to just show up and scare her. Tina, she's in foster care right now, and she's hurting so much. What will she think when you just walk up to her and take her home?"

Tina thought about this for a moment. "I need to see her."

"I'll take you to her," Bo assured her, "but we need to give her time to adjust. She still hasn't told us that Richard is her father or that _you _are her mother. Don't worry, she is being taken care of."

"I don't care how long I have to wait, but I need to go to Llanview. Even if I have to wait there or a month, I need to be close to my daughter. Bo, we need to go to Llanview _now._"


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Surprisingly, Lily had been enjoying her stay in the McBain household so much that Janice had lengthened her stay to at least another two weeks. So far, every day was eventful and never boring: she had gone shopping with Marcie and bought lots of new outfits; Michael and John had taken her to Rodi's and taught her how to play pool; she babysat Tommy when Michael and Marcie were going out to dinner with Lindsay and RJ; Marcie introduced her to a lot of incoming high school freshman at an orientation; every day, she hung out with Jade and ate breakfast at the Angel Square Diner or got some iced lattes at the coffee shop with him. Everything was going perfectly, and as the days went on, Lily started to think of Michael, Marcie, and Tommy as her family.

Soon, Lily realized that it was her tenth day staying with Michael and Marcie. She woke up in her newly decorated room (She and Michael had painted it together.) to the smell of omelets and coffee. She grinned; Michael had always warned her to watch out for Marcie's cooking, but she thought that it was wonderful. So far, she had not experienced Marcie's eggs, though. _"Haha, I'll see if Michael was right for once," _she thought as she got out of bed, following the warm, thick scent to the kitchen.

"Morning," Marcie greeted. She was decked out in a silk robe with fuzzy slippers and was holding Tommy in her arms.

"Morning," Lily replied pulling a stool over to the breakfast bar. "Where's Michael?"

"Oh, he got called out to the hospital late last night; some business in the ER, I expect."

"Oh." One thing Lily was not used to was Michael being called into the hospital at all hours of the day and night. _"Oh, well, it comes with the doctor career package."_

"You know, Lily, tonight is John and Natalie's engagement party at the Palace," Marcie said poking the omelets with her spatula.

"That's cool. Are you and Michael going?"

"Yes, we are; and John and Natalie told me that they would be honored if you could attend."

Lily's eyes widened in surprise. "Me? Oh, I don't know…I mean, I'm not family—"

"Oh, come on, it will be fun!" Marcie insisted. "Nora and Matthew are going, so I'm pretty sure that Jade will be there too; you'll have someone to hang out with."

"Yes, but—"

"And it would mean so much to John," Marcie finished. "Ever since you moved in, you've been like a niece to him; I can tell that he loves spending time with you. He'd be so happy if you could go. So, what do you say?"

Lily thought about this for a moment. Was it really her place? Besides Jade, Michael, Marcie, John, and Natalie, she would not know anybody there. Still, she could tell that Marcie was not about to back down on this. "Sure, if it makes you happy."

* * *

"Bo, I can't take this anymore," Tina snapped closing her magazine. When she and Bo returned to Llanview, Bo had gotten her a luxury hotel right outside of town, but he was keeping tabs on her to make sure she did not leave to find Lily. Bo had just arrived with two steaming cups of cappuccino from the downstairs coffee shop. "I can't stand being a few miles away from my daughter, whom I thought was dead, might I add, without seeing her face." She accepted a cup of coffee and drank it down in one sip. "No one's getting any younger here. I might want to see my child grow up."

Bo sighed; ever since he brought Tina back, she had been whining and pouting like a child. _"Now I see where Lily gets it from," _he smiled to himself. "Tina, we're at a very awkward time right now. We should let Lily heal and adjust—"

"How would adjusting to living with total strangers help her when she finds out that her mother is alive? Damn it, Bo, she's probably scared to death! And what about CJ and Sarah? When will they find out that I'm here?"

"They will find out soon, I promise you," Bo replied slowly, as if he were talking to a two-year-old. Tina threw her hands up in the air, laid back down in bed, and continued to read her magazine.

"I can _imagine _what my family will do when they find out that I'm here," she muttered as she started to scribble down words in the crossword puzzle. "Viki will be all concerned and start scolding me for not telling them that I had a baby and Todd…good lord, _Todd _will be a nightmare with that devilish grin all in my face about it."

Bo took a long sip from his cup. "You know, I've got to wonder, did you get any _news _about the goings-on in Llanview over the last year?"

"No, and I can't imagine why I'd want to keep up with it…but if you want to humor me, you can tell me yourself."

"Okay, where should I begin? Okay, let's start with your sister had a heart attack that nearly took her life; Jessica has been suffering from a split personality and had a baby a year ago that was conceived by her alter ego but now is integrated and married; Kevin's son died in a tornado, but at the same time, he is a grandfather to Kelly Cramer's little boy; there has been a racist arsonist terrorizing the town; your brother was kidnapped and raped and is now looking for his little boy, whom he was convicted and put to death for killing him and his mother; and last but not least, your ex-husband, David, who was just revealed to be my half brother and the lost Buchanan, was framed for a murder that was really committed by his brother." When he finished talking, Tina looked like she had been spinning around for the past few hours and was finally told to stop.

"_Duke _is dead? And David, David Vickers of all people is a _Buchanan?_ And Jessica…she had a…and what about Todd? How could he…? Would you mind explaining that a little bit slower to me, please, _with _all of the details?"

"You know, I'd like to help you out with that, but that would take hours that I don't have; I have to check some things out at the station, and then I have an engagement party to attend."

"Who got engaged?" Tina inquired curiously.

"Oh, Natalie," Bo replied but then added, "You know, Clint and Viki's other daughter, Jessica's twin sister, and _your _niece."

"I know who she is," Tina shot back. She took a deep breath and calmed down. "I've heard so many great things about her from Sarah…I'm just sorry that I can't meet her tonight. Who's the lucky man?"

"John McBain."

"McBain…oh my God, you told me that Lily is in the care of a family named McBain, didn't you?"

"Yeah, Michael is John's brother, but—"

"So, Lily is going to be at this party?"

"Probably—oh, no, don't you even think about showing up at the party to claim Lily."

"I never said I was! Besides, you never even told me where it was."

"Good because that wasn't an overlook." Bo grabbed his coat and car keys. "Look, I'm going now. Please, whatever you do, don't leave this hotel room." On that note, he left the room closing the door behind him. Tina waited until he was safely down the hall before opening up the hotel's laptop.

"I feel like a baby in time out," she muttered pulling up a search engine. "Let's see: Natalie Buchanan, John McBain, Engagement Party." She pressed the enter key as hard as her index finger would let her. She read what came up on the computer screen. "The Engagement Party of Natalie Buchanan and John McBain will take place at seven o'clock this evening at…the Palace Hotel."

* * *

Lily sighed; so far at the party, she was being introduced to tons of people whose names she may forget in the next hour: Clint Buchanan, the ex-cowboy, CEO of Buchanan Enterprises and Natalie's father; Viki Davidson, publisher of _The Banner _and Natalie's mother; Kevin Buchanan, Natalie's older brother and CEO of Buchanan Enterprises; Jessica Vega, Antonio's wife and Natalie's twin sister; Jamie Vega, Antonio's five-year-old daughter; Asa Buchanan, founder of Buchanan Enterprises and Natalie's grandfather; Renee Divine Buchanan, Asa's wife and the owner of the Palace Hotel; Todd Manning, Natalie's uncle who kept eying Lily with a smirk; David Vickers, Natalie's uncle and Clint and Bo's recently found half brother; Dorian Lord, David's newly reinstated girlfriend; Rex Balsom, Roxy's son and Natalie's adoptive brother; Adriana Cramer, Dorian's daughter and Rex's girlfriend; Kelly Cramer, Dorian's niece and Kevin's girlfriend; Paige Miller, Bo's girlfriend and chief of staff at Llanview Hospital; Cristian Vega, Natalie's ex-husband and Antonio's brother; Evangeline Williamson, John's ex-girlfriend and Cristian's girlfriend; Vincent Jones, Natalie's friend; Layla Williamson, Evangeline's sister and Vincent's girlfriend; Marty Saybrooke, John's friend; Cole Thornhart, Marty's son; Starr and Jack Manning, Natalie's cousins; and Blair Cramer, Dorian's niece and Todd's ex-wife. Of course, she had already recognized Bo, Talia, Antonio, Nora, Matthew, and Jade.

"You having fun?" Jade asked handing a cup of iced tea to Lily.

"Not nearly as much as I should be; I mean, it's a freaking engagement party. Where's the 'Pin the Tail on the Donkey?'"

"Relax; this stuff really isn't supposed to be fun. Wait till the wedding rolls around, if you think _this _isn't fun."

"Yeah, I guess. I remember my mom and dad telling me about _their _wedding…it was really small, you know, just my parents, my brother, and my sister…and they exchanged their vows, and they all went on a vacation together. Then I was born, and everything turned upside-down…I wish that my mother could have seen _my _wedding."

* * *

"May I seat you, ma'am?"

Tina, dressed in a hat and sunglasses to disguise herself, had shown up at the Palace Hotel. She had caught a few glimpses of the party, but she had not been able to see Lily yet. The hostess of the restaurant had just approached her. "Yes, you may," she replied. "I would like a table far away from that party over there as possible but close enough to hear every word that's being said."

"Do you _know _the guests of honor, ma'am?"

"Yes, I know Miss Buchanan's mother, but I have not been in contact with their family in a long time, so I think it would be rude to just barge in."

The hostess shrugged and led Tina to a table not _too _far away from the action. After she ordered a martini and the hostess had left, Tina started to listen in on the action.

"May I have your attention, please?" Asa Buchanan, his voice muffled by the surrounding people had tapped his glass with a spoon. _"He looks the same as always," _Tina thought, _"except he might have lost a little weight." _The guests of the party started to surround them, most of which Tina recognized. _"There are Jessica and Kevin," _she thought. _"My God, they grew up so fast! Is that baby in Jess's arms hers? Ugh, there's Blair, looking as conniving as ever; and there's Bo, of course, and Clint, Kelly, Dorian, and…David…of course, he's the new Buchanan isn't he? And there's Viki…she looks so great! Yep, there's Nora and Marty and…oh my God…oh my God…there's Lily!"_

"Are you ready to order?" A young waiter had just arrived, his eyes opened widely as if looking for at least 15 tips.

"Umm, nothing for me," Tina replied, her voice strained. Her face had turned ghost pale, and she felt as if she was about to be sick. "I'll just pay for my martini and will be off." She slapped a ten dollar bill on the table and got up to leave. Just as she was about to make a quick exit, she was approached by a man, who appeared to be about fifty five years old and drunk.

"Hey, beautiful," he slurred pulling the sunglasses on Tina's face. "You're about the hottest thing I've ever seen; way too hot to be hanging around here. What do you say we continue this conversation upstairs, and I'll let you warm me up?"

* * *

"I'd like to propose a toast," Asa announced, his voice loud and clear. He raised his glass of champagne in the direction of John and Natalie. "To my niece Natalie and her fiancé John: words cannot describe how happy and blessed we are to know that you too have found such great happiness in each other. When I see the look that you two share together…" (He paused to sigh) "…it reminds me of…_me _when I was just a young boy. So here's to John and Natalie's blessed engagement and the start of their lives together as future husband and wife."

There was a chorus of "hear hears" and "cheers" as everyone drank to John and Natalie. Just as everyone was about to continue with the party, they were interrupted by a loud scream. "Leave…me…_alone!_" All heads turned to the source of the voice, which was the entrance of the hotel where a blonde was struggling to get out of a man's grip.

Bo rolled his eyes and groaned. _"Tina, not now!_" he thought stepping forward to release her from the man.

Lily watched Bo approach the man and woman, a lump forming in her stomach. _"No, it's not…it can't be…she's dead…no."_ Her breathing rapid, she immediately reached for the locket that normally hung around her neck. Her eyes frantically searched for her necklace, and when she could not find it, she looked back up at the woman. _"It _is _her!" _She ran ahead of Bo straight up to the woman who was being assaulted. "Mom?"


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

For a moment, everyone just stood there staring at Tina and Lily, whose eyes were locked on each other's. Everyone was immobile, as if someone had put them in a freezer and took them out a hundred years later. Viki had covered her mouth in shock; Todd was smirking as widely as ever; Jessica and Kevin were looking at each other in alarm; John, Talia, and Antonio looked as if they had every intention to step forward and assist Bo, but they looked frozen on the spot; Michael and Marcie were ready to rush forward to Lily's aid; Jade gazed from Lily to Tina and back at Lily again; Bo stared grimly at Lily. Even the drunken man had stopped to take in the scene.

"Mom," Lily repeated again in a soft whisper. What was she supposed to do? Scream? Cry? Run into her mother's arms; that is, if she did not drop dead of shock first. After all, she had been told by her father that her mother had died.

"Lily," Tina whispered, tears immediately pooling from her eyes. Was this really her daughter? She had grown up so much since they'd last seen each other! "I missed you so much, baby; more than you know."

"This is all touching," the drunken man interrupted, "but I believe we have a date up in my room."

"Over my dead body!" Renee shouted from the crowd as Bo stepped forward.

"Okay, you can step away from the lady," Bo commanded showing his badge. The man stroked Tina's hair lovingly before he let go and stepped away, his hands up innocently.

"Hey, it's not my fault she's so hot," he said before leaving the bar with Renee angrily following him. Bo sighed heavily and turned around as if the matter had settled, but Lily was still looking at Tina with every emotion but happiness written on her face.

"Mom, what are you doing here?" she asked shakily. "I thought you had died…before Dad left me here…he told me that you and the baby had been killed by those men who broke into our hotel room."

"Lily, honey…let me explain." Tina reached out to hug her daughter, but Lily backed away in one sweeping, giant step.

"No, don't touch me!" she shrieked, folding her arms across her chest to protect herself. "You're only going to hurt me like Dad did! You know, I'm going to hate Dad until the day I die because of what he did to me, but I will hate you even more; you abandoned me, Mom! I thought you had died, and while that man who is my father was trying to get rid of me, you were away trying to have a _healthy _baby! You didn't even give a damn about me at all!" Suddenly, her face, which was filled with rage, turned a peculiar shade of purple. "No, you're not really here; this is all a dream, that's what it is! I'm still at Michael and Marcie's house waiting to go to the party, and you're still dead!" Her whole body started to shake uncontrollably. _"This has got to be a dream, hasn't it?" _one voice in her head asked her. _"No, it isn't," _another one retorted. _"Come on, Lily, face reality. Your mom is alive and well, and she neglected you. She wants to hurt you, to rip you apart like your father did." _Suddenly, Lily let out a scream. "No! I'm not getting hurt again!" She pointed a quivering finger at Tina. "You may have hurt me once, but it's not happening again! I'm going to make you pay!" She sank slowly to the floor, pounding the ground with her hands as Jade slowly broke out of the crowd. He approached Lily and pulled her into her, stroking her hair and whispering reassuring words in her ear. "I'm going to make her pay!" Lily murmured into his shoulder.

Tina was about to step forward, but Bo stopped her and backed her up a few steps. "Tina, what the hell were you thinking?" he asked sharply. "I told you not to show up this morning! Look at what you're doing to your daughter! She's losing her grip with every passing second!"

"Bo, I didn't mean to just burst in like this, I swear!" Tina insisted, quaking and crying vigorously. "I just _needed _to see my daughter! Just see her, look at her! I was on my way out when that drunk approached me, and I didn't mean to yell, but—"

"Okay, save it because I'm not the one who needs an explanation right now." Bo took Tina by the arm. "Go out to my car and _wait _for me there. Don't move or anything. I'll be right out." Tina looked as if she were about to protest, but Bo gave her a threatening glare that sent her right out of the building. Bo stared after her for a moment and then approached Lily, who was surrounded by Jade, Michael, Marcie, Talia, and Antonio. "Lily, honey, your mom is leaving…I'm going to take her back to her hotel."

For the first time, Lily looked up. "_You _knew?" she shouted, trying to stand up. "You _knew _my mother was here? My God, how long was she in Llanview?"

Bo sighed. "I found her the day you went home with Michael and Marcie, and she's been in Llanview for about a week."

"A _week?_ My mother has been here for a _week, _and _nobody _was planning on telling me? You just put your heads together and decided, 'Oh, hey, we're gonna surprise Lily by crashing that engagement party tonight!' What's the matter with both of you?"

Before Bo could answer, Marcie kneeled down next to Lily. "Lily, honey, maybe it is best if you and Michael and I go home too…get some rest, eat something, and then maybe in a few days you can decide if you want to see your mom." Lily, who was currently unable to speak, just nodded quickly and allowed Michael and Marcie to help her to her feet. Before they left, Jade took Lily by the shoulders.

"Call me tomorrow, promise?" he whispered soothingly in Lily's ear. "Promise?"

"Yeah, I promise!" Lily replied unsteadily.

"Come on, Honey," Michael murmured putting his arm around her and leading her out of the hotel with Marcie following close behind giving one last wave to John and Natalie. Bo groaned and approached the guests of honor.

"John, Natalie, I'm so sorry," he apologized. "I had no idea—Tina promised—"

"You know that there's no telling what Tina could do," Viki interrupted approaching the threesome with Todd behind her. "Bo, how did you know that Tina was Lily's…I mean, Natalie told us all about her, and I would _never _guess…?"

"That chick is my niece?" Todd grinned. "It's hilarious! Do you see how much of me is in her? I swear, she must have my chin…"

"It's okay, Uncle Bo," Natalie spoke up. "You didn't know, and it was just…a crucial time."

"Yeah, no worries, Boss," John added. "So, this was your trip that made you go out of town for a few days?"

"Yeah," Bo replied. "I'll explain it to you tomorrow. I'm going to drive Tina home right now, so I'd better leave too."

"Where are you taking her?" Viki inquired. "I want to talk to her myself…"

"Savannah Springs Hotel and Spa, Room 1503," Bo replied promptly. "You take the highway out of Llanview, and you can't miss it. I'll meet you there." John, Natalie, Todd, and Viki watched as Bo left the room.

"Viki, I'll go with you," Todd offered. He shook his head with a leer, as if he could not believe the events that just took place. "That chick is my niece; it's hilarious!"

_"Todd!"_

"All right, I'm coming!"

* * *

"Tina, I don't know _what _you were thinking."

Tina unlocked tried to unlock the door of her hotel room trying to stay calm, but it was hard considering that Bo had been yelling at her the whole way home. She opened the door and flopped onto her bed as if she thought that going to sleep would make Bo stop talking; unfortunately, it did not work. She opened her eyes to see Bo staring at her sternly.

"Bo, it was a stupid mistake!" she protested holding her head as if she were splitting apart. "I just wanted to see her, to reassure myself that she was okay. I didn't think—"

"That's right. You _didn't _think at all."

There was an awkward silence between the two which was filled a few moments later with a rapid knocking on the door. "You can get it if you want," Tina muttered hugging a pillow to her. Bo, not wanting to stop yelling at Tina but knowing that it was Viki, went to the door to open it.

"Tina!"

"Viki!"

Bo stepped aside as the two sisters reunited. The women were so different from each other: one older and wiser, one younger and a bit naïve…but somehow, when they were together, all of their differences were put aside. They were sisters, sharing not only DNA and genes but love, laughs, and memories. By the time Viki and Tina had pulled apart, both of them had burst into tears. For a moment, neither of them said a word until Todd spoke up from the corner of the room.

"That chick is my niece! Damn, that is _so _freaking hilarious!"

"Who is that?" Tina asked approaching the mysterious man. She did not recognize the face, voice, or body…but the smirk on his face and the evil glint in his eyes gave it all away. "Todd?"

"Hey sister from—well, I can't say 'from another mister' can I? I mean, we both came from that bastard Victor Lord—"

"I _hate _you so much!" she cried rushing into her brothers arms. At first, Todd stared awkwardly at his older sibling, not knowing why she was hugging him. They _did _rather detest each other after all. After a moment, Todd wrapped his arms around Tina and joined in.

"I'll be back tomorrow," Bo said curtly slipping out of the room. Todd and Viki gazed after him as Tina wiped her eyes on her sleeves.

"I'm really glad that you two are here. I missed you both so much."

"Huh."

"Yes, Todd, even you."

"Tina, why didn't you come home sooner?" Viki asked, trying to stifle what was left of her tears. "Why on Earth were you and your daughter separated? Why didn't you tell us that you even _had _another daughter—?"

"That chick who tried to punch a police officer is our niece Viki! How hilarious—?"

"If you say that again, I'm going to go insane," Viki threatened.

"I screwed up, Viki. I screwed up more than words can tell, and there is _nothing _that anyone can do to fix it."

"We can listen," Viki offered.

Tina sighed; it was time to tell her story for another audience for a whole other time.

* * *

The McBain home, which Lily originally thought of as warm and inviting, seemed so empty when the three of them entered the apartment that night after picking up Tommy from Lindsay's studio. Tommy, who was drowsy on the way home, fell asleep in his crib with no problem leaving Lily, Michael, and Marcie in the living room together.

"Mom…she's here…alive…" Lily kept murmuring. She folded her arms across her chest and shrank into the corner of the couch. Marcie hugged Lily to her.

"Shh, it's all right, honey…it's all right. You're going to be okay…you're going to be just fine…" She looked at Michael in concern as if she did not know what to do. Michael crouched to Lily's level.

"Sweetie, do you want to get anything to eat? I can run to Rodi's and get us cheeseburgers—"

"N-no thanks, M-M-Michael. If I eat anything, I'm just going to throw up."

"Well, why don't I just pick us up some things in case you do get hungry? If you don't want it, we'll just put it in the fridge for later."

"Okay."

Michael kissed Marcie good-bye, grabbed his keys, and left. Lily stared out into space trying to recall all of the events that had happened that night.

_"I'm going to make you pay, Mom. If it's the last thing I do, then so be it because there is no way I'm going to let you off that easy."_

* * *

"And Bo took me back to Llanview, and you know the story from there." Tina dug her hand into the tissue box but discovered that there were no more tissues to wipe her eyes; it was the second box that she had gone through.

"Tina…oh, honey, I'm so sorry," Viki whispered pulling her younger sister into a hug. "I'm so sorry."

"Tina, if it's any consolation, I know how you feel," Todd spoke up. "Just a few months ago, Blair and I lost a baby; a little boy."

"I'm losing all of my children, one at a time," Tina sighed. "Who knows if CJ and Sarah will talk to me anymore after lying for me for all of these years? And Lily positively hates me…and now I lost my little boy…Jason." She started to sob into Viki's shoulder.

"Tina, I want you to move back into Llanfair with me tonight." Viki cracked a smile. "You're home now, darling. You're with your family, and we all love you."

Tina rolled her eyes in a good natured way. "I guess I did miss Llanview more than I thought." She stood up. "Maybe Lily will feel the same way someday."

"Tina," Todd said slowly looking at his thumbs, as if he were confused. "You said that your husband wasn't Lily's father…who _was _the father?"

"Was it Cord?"

Tina sighed. "It wasn't Cord," she replied. "If it _was _Cord's, I would've told Richard in a heartbeat. No, it wasn't his. Who else could it have been? I didn't have to have a DNA test to figure this one out. Lily's father is David Vickers."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Tina slowly walked down the stairs of Llanfair…her home. The past few days had been rough; all she could think about was Lily and how much she had hurt her. Not wanting to run into Lily, Michael, and Marcie somewhere in town, she had stayed inside and locked herself in her bedroom. Jessica, Kevin, and Natalie had been popping by to see Viki and gazed up the stairs every chance they could to see if there was any sign of their aunt, but besides Viki and Todd, Tina excluded herself from everyone.

Slowly, she pressed her ear against the walls and tried to listen for any visitors that might have been in the kitchen that morning, such as Clint. Ever since Dorian left him for David, he had been confiding in Viki more often. Slowly, Tina cracked a smile. Had she not been constantly brooding over her family, she would have been playfully teasing Viki about the growing bond between the two. When she did not hear any voices, she ventured into the kitchen.

"Good morning!" Viki greeted brightly. She was dressed in a rose, silk dressing gown and looked elegant compared to Tina's pink, fuzzy bathrobe. A cup of coffee was in one hand while this morning's addition of _The Banner _was in the other. "Oh, reading my articles after they're published is the best part," she sighed happily eying one of the stories of a recent car accident. "So, did you sleep okay? Can I get you coffee or anything?"

"No, thanks," Tina mumbled sitting down across her sister. "_When _are CJ and Sarah getting here? They told me that they'd be here as soon as they can!"

"Honey, they're probably tied up with something right now, but I'm sure when they get an opportunity, they'll be on the first flight to Llanview. Are you absolutely _sure _that you're not hungry? I can make you breakfast or—"

"_No, _Viki! The only thing that I'm _'absolutely sure' _of is I need to apologize to my daughter without her having a break down!" She buried her face in her arms and looked back up again. "I'm sorry, Viki…this must be so hard on _you _of all people. I know a lot of your loved ones lean on you for support. It's just…I want Lily to meet you; actually meet you, acknowledge that you and Todd are part of her family as is…" She sighed again and rested her chin in her hand.

"David?" Viki finished for her taking off her glasses.

"Yes," Tina agreed helplessly.

"Did you call him to tell him yet?"

"No…I had every ounce of determination to…I just looked at that antique phone on my bedside table, but when I went to pick it up, I'd see Richard's face on it taunting me, telling me that he was a better father than David will ever be."

"Do you believe that?"

"_No! _Of course not! I mean, David may be a real jackass and careless at times, but look at him! I saw him with Dorian the other night…he really cares about her; and Adriana and Kelly and…Blair. Viki, if David loves Blair like a daughter, he'd adopt a hobo in a minute…"

"Tina," Viki interrupted gently taking her sister's hand, "maybe this would be a good time to call Michael and Marcie and see if Lily is ready to meet with you and talk to you about the mistakes that you both made…and then you can tell her that David is her biological father."

"I…guess you're right. I've been running away from my problems for too long, and that's how it all started right? I mean, if I hadn't run away from Llanview, maybe David and I would be raising our daughter together? Oh, who knows? All I know is that I need my daughter to hear my side of the story…if she doesn't forgive me after that, then so be it, but I need her to know how sorry I am and how much I love her!" At that, she started to sob uncontrollably. Viki quietly walked around the table and took her sister in her arms.

"Do you want me to talk Michael and Marcie?" Viki asked cautiously. "You know, in case Lily answers the phone, maybe it would be better because she does not know that I'm her aunt."

"O-o-okay," Tina stammered through tears. "Please, just bring my baby home!"

* * *

Lily awoke that morning to the voices of John and Michael; both were hushed and low, but Lily could tell that they were talking about her because if they were discussing anything else, their voices would be merry and laughing. _"Whoop-de-do, the same old conversation again," _she thought as she climbed out of bed and pulled on a sweatshirt. _"'Is Lily going to have a breakdown? What can we do for her?' Yeah, yeah, I've heard it all before." _She slowly opened her door, making herself jump when it unexpectedly creaked. 

She was not the only one that was startled. John and Michael both turned around in surprise but relaxed when they saw Lily standing at the door.

"Morning, sweetie," Michael greeted kissing the teenager on the forehead.

"Morning, Michael. Morning, John."

"Hey, kid," John replied with a grin. There was an extremely awkward silence between the three of them that was interrupted with the phone ringing.

"I'll be right back," Michael said taking the cordless phone into the kitchen. Lily stared at him for a moment, looking as if she had sucked in the Earth's supply of air, and exhaled heavily as she sat down on the couch.

"So, how are you feeling?" John asked sitting down next to her.

"Good, I guess," Lily lied, failing to look at John to make her fib convincing. "I'm a lot better."

"Well, you look like Hell, kid, putting it bluntly," John replied playfully. "So what's up?"

"No, it's nothing, really," Lily protested glancing at the kitchen as if she was making sure that Michael was not about to emerge from there.

"Yeah it is," John insisted cracking a smile. "I know you don't want to worry Michael and Marcie, but they're not here right now; Mike's on the phone, and Marcie is taking Tommy for a walk, so right now, it's just you and me, so are you going to tell me what's bothering you because I'm all ears."

"Either way, you'd get it out of me, so I guess I have no choice." Lily sighed before continuing. "I don't know, I think…well, you saw my mom last night. She really wants me to live with her, and—"

"Do _you _want to live with her?" John interrupted.

"I don't know; I really don't know, John. Part of me wants to forgive her, but the other part is telling me that she'll hurt me again. I don't know what to do!"

John paused for a moment. "You know, when I'm working on a case and there is no where to go, no lead to act on, I always go with my gut feeling; my instinct. It tells me which way to turn."

"How do I do that?"

"Okay, the first thing you do is close your eyes. Yeah, that's good. Now, picture yourself living with Tina, and then picture yourself living with Michael and Marcie. Which picture is happier?"

"Living here, by far," Lily admitted, "but…Mom is alone right now, and I don't know if I should give her another chance."

"What does your heart tell you?"

Lily did not know how to answer this. Deep down, her heart told her that she _did _love her mother; they could be a family again, she knew they could! But what about Michael and Marcie? They had put so much aside to make sure that Lily was happy, and—

"If you're worried about Michael and Marcie, don't be."

Lily looked at John in surprise. Did he just read her mind? "How did you—"

"It's part of the job, kid." John tapped the side of his head and grinned. "Michael and Marcie love you like a daughter, and I'm sure that if you chose to live with your mom, they would not mind. All they want is for you to be happy."

"I guess—"

"Lily." Michael came back into the kitchen with a grim look on his face. "That was Viki Davidson on the phone. Umm…your mom is with her right now. Viki wanted to know if you wanted to talk to your mom…Tina wants to tell her side of the story. I told Viki I'd call her back when you made your choice."

"M-my mom wants to talk to me?" Lily stuttered. Why was she so nervous? She _had _been thinking of forgiving her mother…she just wanted to act on it first.

"You don't have to," Michael said quickly. "Viki said that Tina would prefer whatever _you're _comfortable with—"

"No," Lily interrupted, surprised at her answer. "I want to see my mom. I need to see her. It's better this way…"

"Good girl," Michael smiled kissing Lily's cheek. "I'll be right back…you're doing the right thing, Honey." He disappeared into the kitchen again. Lily buried her face in her hands.

"What am I going to do now?"

"Why? You don't want to go talk to Tina?"

"No…I mean, yes, I do, but—"

"You don't know what she's going to tell you."

"Yeah." Lily stared into the darkness of her two palms when she felt John's strong arms engulf her into a hug.

"You're really brave, kid, there's no denying that."

"I don't _feel _brave, John"

"You will, Lily, you will. No matter what goes on today, Michael and Marcie are going to be here for you. You're never gonna be alone, kid, no matter what."

* * *

"How do I look, Viki?" Tina was standing in the living room of Llanfair checking her reflection in the mirror that was mounted over the fireplace. She had been nervous all afternoon. What would Lily think of her when she heard the whole story? 

"Viki went into the kitchen ten minutes ago," Todd replied. He was lounging on the couch reading _The Banner. _"Tsk, Viki, your stories are _way _too soft—"

"How do I look, Todd?" Tina gave her hair another pat.

"How the hell am I supposed to know? What is this, a reunion with your daughter or your senior prom?" Todd chuckled to himself. "That chick is my niece. That's—"

"Hilarious, I know."

"I was going to say 'quite funny' but hilarious works." Tina looked as if she were going to slap Todd when the doorbell rang.

"Damn it, that's them. Viki! What am I supposed to—Viki!"

"Honey, I'm coming!" Viki looked slightly exasperated but nevertheless had a warm smile on her face as she went to the door. Tina looked around nervously and sat down next to Todd.

"How do I look?" she mouthed to Todd a final time.

"Fine!" he mouthed back with wide eyes. He put the newspaper down on the coffee table and smirked in the direction of the hallway, where Lily would soon be emerging from.

"Hello!" the two siblings heard Viki exclaim from the other room. "Hello, Michael, hello, Marcie! Hi, Lily, you look nice today!"

"Thank you, Mrs. Davidson," a tense voice answered. Tina looked as if she were about to run out of the room, but Todd had gripped her shoulder and held her down.

"Well, why don't you come in?" Viki ushered the threesome into the living room.

Tina gasped when she saw Lily; she could not help it. When she first saw her daughter a few days ago, she could not get a good glimpse of her, but now…_"She's so beautiful!" _Tina thought. _"My baby grew up so fast!" _Lily tried to avoid her mother's eyes and instead fixed them on Todd, who was looking at her with great interest.

"Looky here, we've got the Brady Bunch," he remarked looking from Michael to Marcie to Lily. "All that's missing is Little Tyke, but I think we can manage without him right now. What's up, Lily?"

"Nice to see you again, Mr. Manning."

"Aw, now we don't need to use formalities, do we? You can just call me Uncle Todd, kiddo."

Lily looked around her; nobody seemed surprised by that remark except for her. "Mom—?"

"Umm, honey, Todd's not playing around with you," Tina replied quickly. "Todd…and Viki are…my brother and sister."

Lily felt as if the world around her was spinning fast. How could Todd and Viki be Tina's siblings? That meant that she had a bunch of family in Llanview, didn't she? "Mom…I'm missing something here. What don't I know?"

Tina sighed and looked around the room. "Sit down, honey," she replied patting the seat between her and Todd. "We have a lot to talk about."

* * *

Lily's eyes burned from crying so much; she had heard this story a thousand times in her head…heck, she lived through it herself. But something in the way her mother told it made it that much harder to endure; it was the feeling of a mother failing.

"And I love you and CJ and Sarah so much, and I never wanted to believe that any of you were dead, but the newspaper article! I missed you all, and if you can ever forgive me…I know I failed to protect you in the past, but I want to make up for that. I want to be a mother to you again." By this time, Tina was sobbing openly, and Lily felt the urge to say something.

"You didn't fail, Mom," she whispered. "All of those lies you told were to protect us…what more can I ask for in a mother? Richard was manipulative, and if he had found out that I wasn't his biological daughter…he would probably kill you all before I was ever even born! We can't let Richard take anything from us any more, even if he's rotting in Hell right now. It will only make him more satisfied. Mom, all we can do now is be together as a family, show Richard that no matter how much he tried to hurt us, we are still happy."

Tina burst into another round of tears. "I love you so much Lily…I'd give up my own life to save you…"

"I know, Mom…I love you too."

* * *

Lily, Michael and Marcie were just about to leave Llanfair; Tina had agreed to let her daughter stay with the couple until they figured out other arrangements. Slowly, Lily said good-bye to her family.

"See ya 'round, kiddo," Todd grinned ruffling his niece's hair. "I know you don't want to leave your awesome uncle, but you know, Llanview is a small town, and we'll see each other everywhere. I owe you a cheeseburger from Rodi's."

"Okay, Todd, I'll hold you to that," Lily replied with a smile before turning to Viki, who still had tears in her eyes.

"Oh, good-bye, sweetheart! Be good for Michael and Marcie, and if you need anything at all, anyone to talk to—"

"Aunt Viki, I'm going to be, like, five minutes away," Lily giggled. "I'll come and visit tomorrow or something."

"Oh…silly me, okay." Viki hugged Lily yet again and kissed her cheek. "You still need to get reacquainted with your cousins! Jessica, Natalie, and Kevin all want to see you again, I'm sure!"

"Honestly, Viki, you're going to see her before she gets married," Tina smiled from the corner of the room. She approached her daughter. "Tonight we'll go out to dinner, okay? Pick a place, and we'll be there. I'll pick you up at six thirty, so you'd better not be—"

"Tina!"

"…Late."

David Vickers and Dorian Lord had entered the room; David looked as confused as ever, and Dorian just looked like she wanted to gloat. Lily quickly turned to Tina, who had a pained expression on her face.

"Mom, they're not…I mean…I'm not related to them in any way, am I?"

"What is this, some sort of reunion?" David asked looking around at the people in the room. Tina quickly inserted herself in between David and Tina.

"David, you might want to sit down," she said nervously trying to sit the headstrong man on the couch.

"Hey, it's Tina Lord Jr.!" David exclaimed, making Lily giggle. Although she had met David a few days ago, Lily knew that he was not the brightest star in the sky. "So what's the big news, Tina, the Yankees are playing right now, and—"

"Lily, you'd better sit down too."

"Ooh, this is important!" David rubbed his palms together and licked his lips as if he were hungry for more information. "Can you tell me so I can get home before Jeter's up?"

"Okay…David…remember when we were married? And I left Llanview two years after we got divorced?"

"Mom, what does that have to do with anything?" Lily interjected, but her eyes became very round. _"Richard Patterson wasn't my father," _she thought. _"But no…no, David couldn't…he just couldn't…"_

"David…I want you to meet your daughter; Hillary Patterson."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

David's mouth opened as if he were about to reply, but instead of shaping and forming words, it just hung there. Tina helplessly turned to Viki and Todd for help; she _was _rather abrupt in telling David the news. Lily was also immobile; her face had a look somewhere between disgust and disbelief with an expression of denial mixed in. Dorian kneeled tentatively next to David.

"David…?"

"Wait!" Todd shouted suddenly running over to the couch and shoving Dorian out of the way. "Don't move him! Keep that face, Vickers; this is worth the front page tomorrow!" He pulled out his cell phone ("_Todd!_" groaned Viki.) and held it level to David's face. "Smile! Well, don't really smile, but you know, get ready for the picture. Okay, one, two, three, cheese!" A clicking noise announced that the picture had been taken. Todd peered at the screen. "Perfect!" he beamed. "Can we get one with David and Lily?"

"Todd, get out!" Tina moaned pointing a limp arm towards the door. Todd's smile faded.

"Can we get one with _you _Tina?"

"GET OUT!"

"Okay, okay, I'm going!" Todd gave them all a wave and pointed at Lily. "I still owe you that cheeseburger! Oh, and David? This is Phillies territory. If you like the Yankees so much, move to New York!" He laughed but recoiled at Tina's glare. "I'm _going, _Tina!" He made his dramatic exit out of Llanfair.

David's face started to move, and finally, words came out of his mouth. "Sh-she's my daughter?"

Tina smiled faintly. "Yes, David…you were the one that fathered Lily."

"How?" Dorian interjected sharply. "You moved out of Llanview two years after you and David divorced! I didn't see any babies popping out of you before that besides CJ and Sarah!"

"Don't you think I know that, Dorian?" Tina retorted. "Just because I had a baby two years after we divorced doesn't mean it couldn't have been David's baby! I took the DNA test Dorian! I'm absolutely sure that it's his!"

"Well, what happens now?" Lily spoke up. "I mean, I have my mom, my d-dad, and my foster parents all in one town!"

"David?" Dorian put a shaky hand on David's shoulder. David's face had some sort of grin on his face.

"I'm a dad," he said standing up importantly. "I'm a dad, damn it, and it's time I start acting like one!" He looked down at Lily. "Okay, you…Lily, right?" (Lily nodded quickly.) "Yes, I got my daughter's name right! Okay, umm…no going on dates until you're thirty seven, you only get $2.50 a week for allowance, and your curfew is 11:30. And don't try sneaking in at 11:31 because I'll know!" Around him, everyone chuckled except for Lily.

"David…if you don't want to be my dad, that's really okay," Lily mumbled. "I mean, look at all the bad luck I've had for the first fifteen years of my life. It's fine, really." She grabbed her purse off of the coffee table and turned to Michael and Marcie. "I'll wait out in the car. Umm…bye, Mom. Bye, Viki." She did not bother to say good-bye to David or Dorian before she hurried from the room. Marcie was about to follow her, but she suddenly turned back to look at David.

"And you're just going to let your daughter go off like that without stopping her? David, she's _hurting _right now, and all you could think to do was be _sarcastic _about this whole thing?"

Michael grabbed his wife's arm to try to restrain her from attacking David. "Marcie, honey, maybe now's not the best time to start this here—"

"Oh, I'm _so _gonna start this here!" Marcie shot back.

David sighed and flopped back onto the couch. "Who am I kidding?" he said, his face scrunching up as if he were about to cry. "I'll be a terrible father! Look at my past! Look at my present! And God only knows what my future's gonna be—"

"Shh, David, it's all right!" Dorian assured him taking his hands into hers.

"No, it's not!" David shouted. "I was never there for my daughter! Instead, I was being controlled and manipulated by Spencer Truman! And now she thinks that I don't even _want _to be her father." He stopped suddenly and stood up. "You can catch a ride home, Dorian. I gotta go somewhere, and I really should go alone." Without saying good-bye to anyone, David stormed from the house with Michael, Marcie, Dorian, Tina, and Viki staring after him.

"Umm, Marcie, we'd better get going too," Michael said softly putting his arm around his wife and turning her around to head out the door. "See you all…soon, I guess."

"Yeah, soon," Tina mumbled in reply. She took David's vacated seat and buried her face in her hands. "Maybe I shouldn't have told him this…yet. Maybe if they had gotten to know each other—"

"Tina, darling, there wasn't any way around telling him," Viki pointed out putting her hands on her sister's shoulders. "The truth had to come out sometime."

"You'd better hope that David doesn't get himself into trouble over hearing this," Dorian interrupted impatiently peering out the windows as if David was about to come into view. "_Where _could he have gone? _What _is he doing?"

"_Why _are you still in my living room?" Viki asked in mock sweetness turning to face her rival. "If you really loved David, you would be out there looking for him."

"Well, that _would _work out if I had a car."

"Yes, that is a problem, and heaven knows that you hate public transportation." Viki smiled at her own wittiness. "Look, I'm sure David just wants some time to think things over. Wherever he is, I'm sure he is fine."

* * *

"Asa! Clint! Nigel! _Someone!_" David stomped into Asa's living room to see Bo lounging on the couch with a newspaper and curious expression. "Bo! Good, you're here too; I didn't think you would. Where is everyone? I need to tell you guys something, and I need to tell you _now!_"

Bo raised his eyebrows. Ever since he found out that David was his brother, there was never a dull moment in the Buchanan household. "You know, I'd ask about it…but I really don't think I'd want to know."

"Of course you want to know! You're my brother! Asa Buchanan is my father, and that means that when the old coot kicks the bucket…no offense to _Paw _in any way…I get a cut of the loot. And so far, you and Clint have been very…_compassionate _in listening to my problems."

"What is it now, David?" Clint appeared in the living room followed by Asa with Nigel bringing up the rear.

"Clint! Asa! Thank God you're here! I have the biggest news for you guys! And Nigel, I guess you can listen too, I mean you _work _for us, so you'd be the first non-family member to know—"

"Dammit, Vickers, get on with it!" Asa interrupted folding his arms across his chest.

"Okay, okay!" David took a deep breath. "Asa…I don't know how to tell you this, so I'll tell you like they told me…you're a grandfather."

"Oh, _bravo, _Vickers," Asa groaned, "like I couldn't figure it out on my own. I'm a _great-_grandfather too, you know; Hell, I'm a _great-_great-grandfather!"

"You didn't let me finish! You're a grandfather again…to a teenage girl…Tina Lord's daughter, Lily, is my daughter."

* * *

"He's your _what?_"

Lily sighed; _why _was Jade trying to be Mr. Funny Guy when she needed him the most?

"DAVID VICKERS IS MY FATHER!" she screamed into her cell phone. She was sitting on a bench in Angel Square; random pedestrians who were walking by were staring at her, and she began to rethink her decision of yelling. "David's my dad," she whispered.

Jade did not reply, which deeply aggravated Lily. _"I could really use your support right now, Jade," _she thought rolling her eyes. "So?" she asked. "Are you going to say anything?"

"It's just…David Vickers isn't a really good person."

"Jade, I know that David is a bit of an idiot, but—"

"No, Lily, he's a criminal. My aunt told me about him; he was once convicted of shooting a cop, he took Todd Manning's baby away and sold him to another couple; Lily, he pretended to be Victor Lord's long lost son!"

"What?"

"The fact is, Lily, there's bad blood. He was a _Truman! _His brother and father did illegal things, and he's turning out like them." After a pause, he started to talk again. "Look, I'm sorry. It's just…Aunt Nora is the district attorney, so I hear things from her perspective. But it's really not my place to tell you how to judge your own dad. That's your job…Lily, are you still there?"

"…Jade, I have to go." Without waiting for Jade to reply, Lily closed her phone as silent tears poured down her face. "How can I accept my own dad in my life?"

* * *

"Lily…Tina's daughter?" Clint repeated. "The one that Bo told us about; the one that is living with Michael and Marcie; the one who we met at John and Natalie's engagement party; she's _your _daughter? How did that happen?"

David thought about this for a moment. "Well, Clint, when a mommy and a daddy love each other very much, sometimes they—"

"Okay, okay," Bo interjected. "Who told you this?"

"Gee, Bo, I wonder who. Hmm…maybe Mommy Dearest herself?"

"Are you _sure _Tina wasn't lying?" Bo asked sharply.

"Well, she called me over to Llanfair, and she was there with Lily, Michael, Marcie, Viki, and Todd…and she told me and Lily that I'm the father."

"Well, I'll be a horse's uncle!" Asa beamed. "You're a father, Vickers! I hoped that when I found out that you were my son, you'd be useful and bring me grandchildren!"

"Well, you did take the news, umm, _okay, _right?" Bo asked. "You didn't upset Lily in any way, did you?" When David did not answer, Bo groaned. "Vickers, _what _did you do?"

"I didn't do _anything…_I don't think…I didn't know how to react, so I…uh, started to _babble, _if you will. I started to set down my ground rules as a dad, you know, curfews, allowance, stuff like that; and she just told me that I didn't have to be her dad if I didn't want to, and she just _left. _I mean, of _course _I want to be her dad. I _have _to, right, I mean, I _did _get her name right, so…"

"David, you've got to realize why Lily is so closed off," Bo sighed. "She's had such a rough childhood, and the guy who she thought was her father…he did all _sorts _of terrible things to her and Tina and CJ and Sarah, and I can't even begin."

David paused for a moment. "The thing is, I'm scared to death," he moaned desperately. "I've never been a dad before…sure I've been a step dad, but do you really think that Adriana and Cassie would look to _me _as a father figure? And what did I learn from my so-called father? Oh, I learned how to shoot a gun and smuggle cash! No, I don't know _what _to do, and I would be damned if Lily even wanted to accept me into her life!" He sat down on the couch and held his head as if an alternate personality was taking over. Clint approached David cautiously.

"David, I know that you feel this way now, but once you take the plunge, you'll find that being a father is very rewarding," he pointed out. "I can pretty much bet that you loved her as soon as you found out that she was your daughter."

"Yeah, I know that Clint, Asa, and I do already," Bo added. "She's my niece, and I'm going to love her no matter how she lived in the past. I'm not going to judge her by that, and I know that you won't either. Likewise, she's not going to judge _you_ by _your _past."

"Vickers, stuff like this has happened to the Buchanan men over the years," Asa concluded clapping his hand on his son's shoulder. "Ben, Drew, Matthew, Natalie; they all came into our lives unexpectedly, and we are very lucky to have them in our lives, just as we are lucky to have Lily. That's what's important, Vickers; family, and I know that all Lily wants is your love."

David cracked a small smile. "Thanks, guys. I _knew _being a Buchanan would come in handy someday; well, I already knew that, look how much money is in for me! But anyway, I'm lucky to have such a great family…so, uh, what do I do now?"

"Go to her, Vickers; wherever she is, she's waiting for you."

* * *

"Hey, Carlotta." Lily approached the counter of the Angel Square Diner and hoisted herself onto a stool.

"Hola, mija," Carlotta replied with a warm smile. "You don't look so happy. Is anything wrong?"

"No, not really; I just need vanilla ice cream and a lot of it."

"Make that two," seconded a voice.

David Vickers appeared next to Lily.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

"David, _what _are you doing here?" Lily groaned trying to avoid eye contact with her father.

"The same reason you did," David insisted seriously. "I want to talk." He turned to Carlotta. "Two large bowls of vanilla ice cream, please, Carlotta."

"Coming right up," Carlotta smiled disappearing into the kitchen.

Lily watched her go before she turned to David. "I came here to be alone," she hissed in a hushed voice. "I do _not _want to talk to anyone, _especially _you."

"Here you go!" Carlotta cheerfully set two foam bowls loaded with ice cream on the counter in front of the father and daughter. "Enjoy."

"Thanks, Carlotta," David replied slapping a twenty dollar bill on the counter. He took Lily by the arm. "Come on, let's go for a walk."

"I do _not _have to go anywhere with you!" Lily snapped pulling her arm away. "You may be my father, but that doesn't mean that I have to listen to you."

David took a deep breath. _"This is to be expected," _he told himself. _"Just relax, David. This will all pay off soon." _"You're right," he agreed. "I don't have to tell you to do anything. I mean, we just discovered each other today, and I know we got off on a bad start. That's my fault, Lily, and I want to make up for it."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Fine, let's go." Waving good-bye to Carlotta, she followed David out of the diner and back into the park where they sat in a vacated bench.

"So, uh, nice day," David started conversationally.

Lily sighed. "Look, David, are you going to talk to me on how _peachy _it makes you feel to be my father, or are you going to sit here and waste my time talking about the weather? I _do _have a life you know."

_"Spoken like a true teenager,"_ David thought. He remembered Dorian's accounts of teenage years with Cassie and Adriana. "Okay, I'll begin," he replied. "Lily, you have every right to be mad at me and whoever else you want to be mad at because it was not your fault when this all happened. My marriage with Tina…I don't want to say it was a mistake, but we were living a lie. We were two people, deeply in love, and at the same time, I was trying to get money."

"Is that why you and Mom divorced?" Lily inquired. "Money?"

"No," David sighed. "We were threatened by someone…umm…she knew Tina and the Lords very well, and she told us that she would go to the police, so we got divorced."

"Oh, well, by then, you knew it was wrong to scam people out of money, right?"

"Well, I _was _going to go to Viki and tell her that I wasn't her brother, but…this person named Jean interfered, and that was the end of it. Under the circumstances, I was more worried about being arrested than doing the right thing."

"So, instead of saying, 'Tina, I will divorce you because it's the right thing to do' you said 'Tina I will divorce you because I'm afraid of being arrested.'"

"Yes."

"That's _not _what I needed to hear."

Lily tossed her bowl into the park's trash bin and walked away from David, her arms folded across her chest. David followed her warily.

"Lily…I've done a lot of terrible, _terrible _things in my past—"

"I know. Jade told me."

"Well, are you siding with him?"

"I didn't want to jump to conclusions. I mean, Jade is Nora's nephew, and Nora is the D.A., so…of course they're both prejudiced. I don't want to side against you if you're really innocent; you're my dad after all, and I shouldn't have to spend the rest of my life hating you. I want the truth; the truth about everything."

"Okay." David closed his eyes and let the terrible, painful memories of his past. "It all started when I was a kid. My mother, Emma Bradley, was great. She loved me to the fullest, and I know that she would love you too had she lived to see your birth…she died when I was very young…my 'father' Ned Truman was not so fit to be a parent. He was involved in a lot of illegal activities, and my older brother, Spencer, was right along there with him. Soon, _I _was involved in the family business. But you know, at the time, I really wasn't doing anything; I was just watching Spencer and Ned do their illegal business as I was babysat by the local forger, Lenny. Soon after that, my dad died, and Spencer told me that I had to become part of the 'biz.' Spencer started taking me on jobs and made me watch as he stole things and cheated people. Then, one day, when I was sixteen everything changed."

"What do you mean?"

"I really wish I could tell you that I saw the error in my ways, but that's not what happened, honey."

"Then what _did _happen? Damn it, David, you obviously don't want to tell me."

"Lily, no you've got to know." Lily exhaled loudly and tilted her head to the side to tell David that she was listening.

"One day, Christmas Eve to be exact, Spencer called me to his house; he said it was urgent, so of course I went. When I got there, he handed me a gun and told me that he wanted me to make a raid at a place. The gun he gave me was Ned's, and he told me 'Dad wanted this.' I was afraid of Spencer, so I went. When I got there, there were three men there. I got really scared, so I ran out of the room, but one of the men followed me; he was a cop. He told me to put down the gun, but naturally, I turned and ran. The officer had a gun, and he had fired."

"David—"

"Obviously, it was a warning shot, but I was sixteen. I wouldn't have known the difference. I turned around and…" He swallowed hard.

"David, you didn't," Lily gasped backing away quickly from David.

"Lily, it didn't happen like that."

"You shot that cop, didn't you, David? _Didn't you?_"

Before she let David answer, hot tears started to pour down her face. _Why _did this have to happen to her? Her first father had been a sick bastard, and now when she finally found the father that she wished for every night, he turned out to be a criminal! She wiped her tears on the back of her sleeve so that David could not see her crying. Finally, she turned around and said in a congested voice, "What happened then?"

"My brother, Spencer, who was a doctor, met up with me and told me to run. At the time, I didn't wonder why my brother was there. Later, I snuck into the hospital to see if the cop was alive; I just felt so horrible. His son was there trying to go in and see him, and Spencer was taking him into surgery. Spencer just told me to leave the hospital, which I did."

"But what happened to the cop?"

"He…died. Do you know Dr. Miller? You know, Bo's girlfriend? She had operated on him…drunk."

"_Paige _operated on him _drunk?_ How? Why? How could she still have her license?"

"Well, she was married to Spencer at the time. He decided to cover for both of us: he sent me out of the country, and he blamed the malpractice on a man named Dr. Snyder, who he blackmailed because he was involved with a child pora…_pornography_, excuse me, ring, but never mind that. I lived the next twenty five years of my life living with the guilt. Paige was too. Finally, last year, we turned ourselves in. I was sentenced to life in prison, and Paige lost her medical license."

"Then _why _the hell are you walking the streets of Llanview right now?"

"John McBain was not convinced that the case was closed. And knowing John, his life long mission was to put his father's killer behind—"

"His _father's _killer? You and Paige killed John and Michael's father?"

"Lily—"

"Look, David, I love John and Michael; they've been like family to me all of this time, and to hear that _you _killed their father—"

"_NO, _LILY, _I _DIDN'T KILL THOMAS MCBAIN! IT WAS SPENCER! MY GUN WAS LOADED WITH BLANKS! I WAS SHOOTING BLANKS JUST LIKE KEVIN BUCHANAN!"

Lily opened her mouth in reply, but she closed it when she heard David's last sentence. _"What?_"

"Long story," David shrugged.

"David…I don't get it. Your gun…that means you _didn't _kill—"

"Spencer shot Thomas McBain. _He _was just a few feet behind me. All these years! I couldn't believe it!"

"What about Paige? What happened to her?"

"Paige's story; amazing." David's voice had a hint of admiration. "Well, she _was _drunk when she did the surgery. I mean, it was Christmas Eve, who _doesn't _go clubbing? Not that I'd ever want _you _to go clubbing—"

"_David._"

"Okay! Well, Spencer had insisted that she assist Dr. Snyder with the surgery, but surprisingly, she did her part extremely well. Rumor has it that she was one of the brightest residents to pass through the AC Hospital. While McBain was in recovery, Spencer killed him; right then and there."

"And where's Spencer now? David…don't tell me that this creep is walking around Llanview right now!"

"Spencer—Uncle Spencer to you…just kidding, but anyway, Spencer umm…_ahem…tragically _died from being stabbed. _I _was a suspect, but let me tell you, it was _not _me! I mean, I would have killed that bastard. Hell, Asa was going to pay me ten million bucks! But, you know, I'm a Buchanan now, so I already _have _that money—"

"But…I mean, did he ever go to jail? What happened to him when you found out it was him?"

"He was arrested and stood trial…until _Marty the Party Girl _gave him the vote of insanity that sent him right off to Wingdale. He was faking it, of course—"

"Marty Saybrooke is a psychiatrist," Lily interjected. "How could she not see—?"

"Spencer has tricked the smartest people in the past, Lily. He has manipulated and used the wisest and most educated, like me."

"Huh. Yeah, okay."

"Okay, maybe not like me, but Blair, Marty; everyone in Llanview pretty much thought he was God because he was a life saving doctor. Of course, Paige and I saw right through him; Hell, she was married to him at one time, and I was his brother! But Todd was the only one that knew right away that he had an agenda, and he was right; Spencer thought that _he _was the lost Buchanan, and our mother told him to make them pay. Of course, he and Todd hated each other. I don't know if Tina and Viki told you this, but Spencer…kind of landed Todd on death row."

"What?"

"Yeah…he framed Bo for framing Todd…Todd wanted Spencer to pay for obvious reasons, and he was furious when Marty told the court that Spencer was insane. So, on the night that Spencer was being shipped off to the looney bin, Todd kidnapped him. Of course, it was never proven, but Todd and I can be close confidantes; not that he'd ever tell me, but—"

"I get it."

"Good. Well, one thing led to another, and Blair Cramer and Spencer ended up flying off the roof of a warehouse, and Blair lost the baby that she was carrying. A few weeks later, Spencer ended up dead. Now I'm trying to go on with my life and forget about Spencer, but believe me, it's not that easy."

Lily sighed and ran her hand through her hair. "There is so much to learn," she murmured. "When I first found out that Mom was here, I had to learn one slice of the family tree, but now two? It's crazy! And I really didn't give you an easy time about it. I'm sorry."

"It's okay," David replied with a grin.

"It's just…I'd really like to get to know you, David. I'd really like to have a chance at being your daughter."

David smiled genuinely. "Let me tell you something, Lily, you had that chance ever since you were born, even if we didn't know it yet. Hey, listen, it doesn't have to be that hard. We'll just get through it together bearing one thing in mind: we have no choice."

Lily laughed. "Well, when Mom said that you were my father, I knew that we were going to have this talk one day…but in the same day?"

David gave a low whistle. "We must be really good," he sighed.

"We're more than good. We're insane."

"I'll drink to that." David raised an imaginary glass and took a deep "sip." "How's about we get some root beer at Rodi's. I mean, I'd get us the real thing, but they have this stupid rule about having to be twenty one…"

"Sure," Lily replied.

Arm in arm, the father and daughter pair left, talking enthusiastically the whole way.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Lily could not believe how fast things in her life were moving; a month ago, she had been loud mouthed girl that was brought into the Llanview Police Department, but now, she thought as if she could stand on top of Llantano Mountain and shout, "Look at me now!"

She had moved into Llanfair with Tina and Viki. It was sad for her to leave Michael and Marcie, but they had assured her that they were fine with the whole thing and truly enjoyed her time with them and that she was always welcome in their home.

She and David had made progress too; she could talk to him about most of her minor problems, and David was trying really hard to be a good listener and a good father. Of course, he was still _David _after all and was a clueless dad. Lily did not know how she had managed it, but one day when she was staying with David, she and Jade had a pool party. Of course, they figured out why David was so distracted: Dorian.

As much as David and Lily had gotten along, she and Dorian were not doing so well. Dorian believed that Tina let Lily run around too much and that she needed a firmer hand. When she was not trying to persuade David to step up to the plate and actually show his daughter guidance, she was personally trying to torture Lily; she asked her a wide variety of questions starting from did you take all of your vitamins to do you have a boyfriend. Of course, she had meant Lily and Jade. Although they spent a lot of time together, Lily and Jade really did not want people to consider them a couple. They never held hands, they never told each other "I love you," and they _never _made out, especially in public. Jade already had his eyes on someone, and Lily just didn't like the idea of having a boyfriend. That was why Jade wanted Lily to start dating _someone, _and he felt that he knew the right person.

* * *

"I'll have Vanilla Iced Latte," Lily told the person behind the counter of the coffee shop.

"Same," Jade offered. He accepted the two cups and led Lily across the room. "Come on, I have a few people I want you to meet." He continued to pull her through a maze of people until he stopped abruptly in front of a table. "Hey, guys!"

Lily took in the scene before her. Seated at the large table were five girls and four boys. _"Jade's really popular," _she thought with a grin. Over the past month, she had met Jade's many friends, but now there was a whole new addition.

"This is Lily," Jade continued putting his arm around Lily. "You know, she's David Vickers' daughter."

"David Vickers," one of them spoke up. She had long, silky black hair and a deep tan. "Isn't he that new, _adorably _hot model for _Craze_?"

"Ooh, I know him!" a blonde haired girl with long hair and bangs giggled. "He looks _great _without his shirt on…"

"I'd like to see him with more than his shirt off," a girl with a brown bob grinned.

"Hey!" a boy with gelled blond hair and glasses, who was sitting next to the brown bobbed girl, snapped. He yawned and relaxed his arm around the girl's shoulder.

"_Anyway!_" Jade continued. "Lily these are my friends. This is Sandy."

The giggling blonde girl, who was still thinking about David, just raised her hand in reply.

"Aiden, Sandy's boyfriend."

"Sup," replied a boy with sand colored hair and piercing blue eyes.

"Leigh."

The girl with the long, black hair gave a wave.

"Enrique, Leigh's boyfriend."

A Latino boyfriend grinned at Lily.

"Connie, one of my, umm, good friends."

"Hey," a red haired girl greeted before grinning up at Jade. Lily already guessed that this girl was the same girl that Jade had a crush on.

"Ginny."

"Hi," the girl with the brown bob smiled warmly.

"Steve, Ginny's boyfriend."

The boy with his arm around Ginny's shoulders wiggled his fingers.

"Farah, Ginny's sister."

A girl with short, golden hair and a lot of makeup smiled briefly.

"And Granger."

Lily half expected to hear Jade finish it with "Farah's boyfriend," but he just finished it there. Granger had shaggy, brown hair and eyes that were the color of coffee. When Lily looked into them, they made her feel warm and good. He had a deep tan all over his muscular body and was wearing a tight T-shirt and jeans.

"Whoa, Jade, this is Lily?" Granger asked, his sparkling eyes widening. "She's hotter than you said on the phone! Lily, babe, can you believe that this guy is trying to fix us up?"

Lily had no idea what he was talking about, but she pretended to be in on it from the beginning. She turned to Jade with clenched teeth. "Jade."

"Let's sit down!" Jade replied cheerfully slipping into a chair next to Connie. He put his arm around her and squeezed her against his torso. "Lily, you can get that seat in between Farah and Granger."

Lily quickly walked around the table and sat down in between the two teenagers (after almost knocking down two other chairs on the way). Granger opened his mouth to talk to her, but Farah had already turned her around so they could talk.

"So, do you like Granger?" she said in a low voice that could not be detected over Jade's loud cackling.

"Oh, umm, well, we just met and—"

"He likes you already, I know it," Farah interrupted taking Lily's hand into her French manicured one. "Do you see that look in his eyes? His eyes only twinkle like that when he _really _likes someone."

"Do _you _have a boyfriend?" Lily inquired quickly, changing the subject.

Farah's smile lessened. "I do," she said quietly. "A keeper; his name was George. He used to sing to me every day. He was in church choir, see, and he had the most beautiful voice."

"Doesn't he sing to you anymore?"

"No; well, sometimes when I come across one of his favorite songs on the radio, I picture him singing along with me in Heaven. He was killed six months ago when he was on winter vacation."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that."

Farah blew a few strands of hair off of her forehead. "So, uh, I'm sure you can enlighten Granger by letting him take you on a date."

"Did someone say my name?" Granger poked his head eagerly into the conversation and rested it comfortably on Lily's shoulder, which sent chills up and down her spine.

"I was just saying how happy I would be to see my best friend finding the girl of his dreams. She held up her coffee cup and added quickly, "I'm gonna go get another latte." She looked around at her friends. "Girls, come on. I really need you."

Getting the message, the other girls stood up and started towards the counter. Farah was about to follow them when she turned around to the rest of the boys. "Why don't you guys go outside and talk about cars or something?" Snickering, the guys disappeared leaving Lily and Granger alone.

Lily took in a sharp breath. _"Don't panic," _she told herself. _"You remember when Sarah was a teenager; just do exactly what she taught you."_

"Jade told me that you were a hot girl for me to date; the liar."

"Excuse me?"

"You're _enormously _hot and beautiful and…'me worthy.' Besides that, our friends have been trying to get us together."

Lily leaned in and patted Granger's head as if he were her little Chihuahua. "Well, why don't we give into their wishes?" she whispered with a sly smile.

"Me like that," Granger agreed. He looked over the counter and called, "Okay, you guys, you can come back to the table now."

Within the next few moments, Sandy, Aiden, Leigh, Enrique, Ginny, Steve, Connie, Farah, and Jade sheepishly sat down around the table making it obvious that they had listened in ("We thought it would take you another five minutes," Leigh grinned.).

"So it worked?" Sandy asked putting her hands together in prayer.

"Yep," Granger replied hugging Lily toward him. "From now on, when you hear the name 'Granger,' the name 'Lily' will be coming after it."

* * *

"So, I believe I proved Miss 'I don't want to date' wrong."

Jade and Lily were walking up the vast driveway to Llanfair.

"Jade, you're horrible," Lily laughed.

"Yeah, well, I got you a boyfriend."

"Correction: we're _dating _right now. That doesn't mean he'll get me into bed, that doesn't mean that I'll be popping out any of his kids, and that _does not _mean that he's my boyfriend."

"Yeah, but you two have amazing chemistry. 'Let's give into their wishes.' Gee, I thought we'd need to put a curtain up or something."

"Shut up!" Lily opened the front door. "I'm home!" she called. "Mom? Viki? Is anyone home?"

"We're in the kitchen, darling!" Viki's voice echoed from afar.

Lily gave Jade a quick wave good-bye and made her way into the kitchen. When she got outside the door, she thought she heard different but familiar voices. _"That's not Mom or Viki's voices. Who else is in the kitchen?" _She opened the door, but before she could identify who the mysterious voices were, she heard someone cry, "Lily!"

A slender figure threw herself onto the teenager and started to sob unceremoniously into her shoulder. After a few moments, she pulled herself away, revealing a girl with blonde hair.

"S-Sarah?"

"I'm so s-s-s-sorry!" she babbled quickly. "One of Richard's coworkers sent me a letter when I was on tour with a band that I was managing, and it had this in it!" She held up a newspaper article. Reading it briefly, Lily saw that Richard had forged a newspaper article claiming that Tina and Lily had been killed by Richard before he killed himself. "I was going to come home to tell Aunt Viki, but the letter told me that Mom didn't want that, and I should have been smart and spoke up and…"

"Sarah," Lily interrupted. "It's okay, really. It wasn't your fault. It was nobody's fault except Richard's."

"I missed you so much, and when Mom called me and said that you two were alive, I was trying to get there as soon as possible!"

"Sarah, it's okay." She looked around the room to see Viki and Tina sitting at the kitchen table, both of them with tears in their eyes. In the corner of the room next to the refrigerator was a man with brown hair: CJ.

"Hey, kiddo," CJ greeted coming forward to hug his sister. Sarah waited a few moments before joining in again. Together, in a tangle of hugs, the three siblings started to laugh, cry, and let every emotion come out.

"It doesn't matter what happened to us in the past," Tina spoke up from behind them. "What matters now is that the four of us can be a family again because that's what really matters: family."


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"Lily, I think you and Granger are getting serious!" Leigh teased as she, Sandy, Connie, Ginny, Farah, and Lily all sat at a table at the Palace.

"Nah," Lily replied opening a menu. "I mean…he's really nice, and I love being around him—"

"And you two are flapping around each other every chance you get," Connie finished with a knowing smile.

"Yeah, remember when John McBain caught them making out on the pool table at Rodi's?" Sandy giggled covering her mouth with her hand. Lily had to chuckle at that one. It was nearly midnight when she and Granger had decided to grab some dinner. When they were done eating, Granger had challenged her to a game of pool, and soon after that, they were kissing on top of the pool table, oblivious to reality until someone slapped a newspaper on their heads. And who was that someone if it was not John McBain?

"How long will it be until the wedding bells are ringing?" Ginny asked eagerly.

"Guys!"

"Okay, you guys, give her a rest," Farah added with a wide smile. "Lily, I have to say I agree with them. I've never seen Granger this happy in my life. Have you told him you loved him yet?"

"Farah!"

"Lily!"

Lily paused for a moment. Did she really feel love for Granger? Was there a specific point in time when she _had _to feel love for him? "No, I haven't," was her choice of words. "I'm trying to find the perfect time."

"Are you sure you aren't confused about _your _feelings?" Ginny inquired warmly.

"I haven't thought about it really," she admitted, "but now that you mention it…it's exactly how I feel. And I want the whole world to know it."

"Granger _is _your whole world," Farah smiled genuinely.

"I'm going to tell him," Lily declared. Just then, her phone buzzed, alerting a text message. She opened up her phone and looked at her message: _"I'm coming after you." _"What the Hell?"

"What?" Farah asked peering over Lily's shoulder. "Who sent that?"

"No caller I.D.," Lily mumbled.

"I bet it was Enrique," Leigh groaned. "He plays stalker to all of the newcomers. It's just an initiation."

"Yeah…whatever. Anyway, so when I tell Granger…"

"Ooh, I have the _perfect _place!" Connie squealed. "Saturday is Granger's surprise sixteenth birthday party!"

"I totally forgot!" Lily groaned. "What do you need me to do?"

"Show up with Granger at nine o'clock," Connie replied promptly. "The guys are telling Granger that they're going to have some summer bash or something. Granger, of course, knew it was his birthday, but he loves a good party, he won't even think of it." She softened her voice. "It's at my Gram's beach house. There's a nice balcony that towers the bay, and that's where you can tell him…"

"Ooh, how cozy," Leigh purred.

"I'm going to tell him! On Saturday, I'm going to tell Granger that I love him."

* * *

Lily opened the door at La Boulaie; David had requested that she would come for dinner, as he had great news to tell the family. Warily, she opened her cell phone once more and looked at the text message. Should she take it seriously? If she was any danger, she could always show the message to Bo. No, it did not matter. Like Leigh said, it was probably Enrique. Out of the whole group, he was the prankster, besides Jade.

"Lily, is that you?" Dorian's voice echoed throughout the large mansion. "Come inside, darling, we're waiting for you!"

Lily dumped her bag at the foot of the long staircase and entered the kitchen. The table was already fully set, and David, Dorian, Blair, Kelly, Adriana, Starr, and Jack were seated around it. Lily nodded to all of them in greeting and sat down in between Starr and Adriana. When Lily was not with Jade, Granger, Farah, or any other members of the group, she and Starr were always hanging out. Starr was a year older than her cousin and therefore took her under her wing showing her all of the ropes in Llanview.

"Where were you?" Dorian asked curtly, tilting her head suspiciously.

"I was with my friends," Lily replied, trying to smile pleasantly despite Dorian's look of disapproval. "We were just talking about a surprise birthday party we were throwing for my…this guy…umm, David, it's this Saturday, and seeing that I'll be here that weekend, I will request _your _permission."

David stuck a piece of sushi in his mouth. "It's okay with me," he said as clearly as the mashed up food in his mouth would let him. "Get the final 'ok' from your mom though."

"'K thanks."

Dorian laced her fingers together and rested her chin on top of her intertwined hands. "Where did you say that this party was?"

"Oh, my friend Connie's grandmother's house. She knows Granger, she said okay, and _yes, _she'll be home." She silently crossed her fingers behind her back hoping Dorian would not detect her lies.

"Granger," Kelly said as if trying to place the name. She stuffed a forkful of salmon in her mouth, chewed for a moment, and swallowed. "Isn't that the guy that John McBain saw you kissing on the pool table at Rodi's?"

Blair, who almost choked on her lemon water, placed her hand over her mouth and grinned. "_Really?_"

"Yes, _really_…" Dorian murmured with a frown.

"Oh, that was a silly rumor," Lily said with a laugh. She looked at Kelly, who shrugged and continued her meal. The rest of dinner consisted of conversation about _Craze_ magazine. When dessert rolled around, David passed around fat-free vanilla milk shakes.

"Made them myself," he purred to Dorian, who immediately giggled and took a generous helping from her cup. She put the spoonful in her mouth but immediately put her hand over her mouth.

"Something's in here, David," she grimaced, bringing her napkin to her mouth. When she opened up her napkin, her eyes went round. "Oh!" she gasped putting the object in her palm. Lily craned her neck to see what she was holding. When she finally caught a glimpse of it, she gasped as well.

In her hand was a shiny ring: a large, white diamond that glistened in the light on a glowing platinum band. "David…"

At this cue, David plucked the ring from Dorian's hand and bent down on one knee. "Dorian…my best friend…the love of my life…not to mention my business partner." He paused to allow everyone to chuckle. "Will you marry me?"

"Yes!"

* * *

"And they're getting married, and now I'm going to see this woman twenty four seven!" Lily stomped out of the movie theater followed by Granger, who was taking a large swig of Red Bull.

"Well, it's not like you live at La Bull Lay, or whatever the Hell it is," Granger replied tossing the can into the garbage can. "You live with your mom."

"Yeah, but the arrangement is for me to go to David's every other weekend. And Llanview is not that big town; I'll be seeing her _everywhere! _I'm not surprised if she's here seeing a chick flick right now!" She sighed and ran her hand through her hair. "What time is it?"

"Do you have your cell?"

"Yeah, but I'm afraid to check it." Ever since the first unnamed text message, Lily had received three more. She confided this in Granger, who immediately suggested that she'd show the police, but Lily declined.

"Are you afraid that it's…?"

"You know what? I'll check." She dug her Razr out of her purse. "Seven thirty," she read. She had to get to Connie's grandmother's house by nine, and it took about an hour to get there. "Umm, I guess we should get going to Connie's—"

"I wonder why her grandmother suggested that we all come down to her house," Granger wondered aloud. "It's my birthday, damn it! I bet the whole time we'll be knitting or playing crochet or—"

"Hey, Lily," a voice called. Matthew came rushing towards the couple followed by Bo and Paige.

"Hey, Matthew," Lily replied with a smile. "What are you doing here?"

"Dad and Paige and I are seeing the new _Harry Potter_," Matthew replied with a grin. "You?"

"Oh, Granger and I just got out of Ratatouille," Lily replied.

"That one looks cute," Paige smiled. "Was it good?"

"Well, Lily and I weren't really watching," Granger explained putting his arm around Lily.

"Huh?" Matthew asked.

"I'm going to warm up the bike, Lily," Granger said quickly hurrying out of the building. Lily looked after him until her phone started to buzz.

"Excuse me," she said to Bo, Paige, and Matthew as she hurried to the corner of the lobby. When she opened up her phone, she received another text message: _"I know where you are. Don't think that you can get away this time." _She gave out a small cry of surprise.

Across the room, Bo could see the look of surprise and fear on his niece's face. "Umm, Matthew, why don't you and Paige go and play air hockey for a few minutes, okay?" Without waiting for a reply, Bo started towards Lily but was immediately cut off by Granger, who was hurrying towards her as well.

"Bad news, Babe: the bike is busted again. I should've got a new one when they offered me such a good price…anyway; we're going to have to take a bus or something to New Jersey—"

_"What should I do?" _Lily thought holding her phone tightly in her palm. _"This guy could be on a bus or a train. Hell, he could be the taxi driver if we agreed to call a cab!"_

"No!" Lily snapped quickly. "No, we can't." She looked around to see if anyone was staring at her. Everyone seemed to be minding their own business, but she was particularly worried about Bo, who was standing close to them checking his messages, overhearing. She lowered her voice. "You know how much I hate public transportation."

"We don't have to go."

"Yes we do! I'll just call Connie, and maybe Aiden or Enrique or someone could pick us up—"

"That will take an hour for them to get here and an hour for us to go there!"

"It will be worth the wait. While we're waiting we can see…this." She pointed out a small ad on the wall that looked microscopic compared to the large sign for _Hairspray _next to it.

"_Chickadee_? Rated G? Lily—"

"Just read the reviews!"

"'Great for young children developing number and letter recognition.' Damn, I didn't know that they even _showed _these movies in the theaters these days. Babe, I don't know. The only thing _I'm _recognizing is how tired I am."

"We won't be _watching _the movie!" Lily put her hands on his shoulders. "The only reason they show these crappy movies is to attract teenagers when their parents aren't working the night shift." She teasingly played with a piece of Granger's hair. "Come on, Granger, we have an hour without my mom or David or Dorian…and what's a better birthday gift than my virginity?"

"Lily, as tempting as that sounds—"

"I'll go buy the tickets!" While she was kissing Granger, she had plucked his wallet from his back pocket. "In the meantime, you can text Connie with my cell and tell her that she needs to pick us up." She thrust the cell phone into Granger's hand and walked away quickly to the outside ticket booth. Shaking his head, Granger opened up the cell phone. _"I know where you are. Don't think that you can get away this time." _He closed the phone with a long, concerned whistle, which immediately alerted Bo to join him.

"Okay, you two didn't need to put on that show to keep me away," he said with a small, knowing smile. "Something's up with that cell phone, and I want to know what it is."

Granger looked at Bo. "Look, Commissioner, Lily really doesn't like other people looking at her cell phone, and—"

Bo held up his badge. "Look, I'm not 'other people,' I'm your 'babe's' uncle _and _the Police Commissioner. That means I know where you live. Now, I don't mean to get the badge involved, but…"

"Lily will kill me, but here." Granger held out the Razr, which Bo took into his hands and opened it up, revealing the message. _"I know where you are. Don't think that you can get away this time."_

"What is this?" Bo asked sharply examining the phone.

Granger sighed. "We really don't know," he replied helplessly. "She's been getting text messages from this unknown caller. We thought it was this guy we know pulling her leg, but—"

"How many has she received in all?"

"Five," Granger responded promptly. "I'm sorry, I told her that we should've shown the police, but—"

"Come on," Bo said pulling on Granger's leather jacket. "We have to go get Lily. I'll take you two back to the station, and we can decide what to do from there."

Bo took long strides towards the door; Granger had to take at least three jogging steps to keep up with him. When they got outside, a maze of loud, high school kids smoking cigarettes and waiting in line for their tickets were there to greet them. Normally, Bo would have checked for proper I.D. if the person in question looked too young to use tobacco, but there was no time for that. "Just standing around," he grumbled trying to look over their heads. Granger squinted under, above, and through the crowd trying to spot his girlfriend.

"Lily, where are you?" he moaned.

"I know how to handle this," Bo said jerking his head in the direction of the ticket booth. "If you see Lily, call my name and _keep her with you._" Balling his hand into a fist around the phone, he weaved his way through the impatient maze of people. He approached a young, teenaged boy in a red and white striped shirt, who was selling tickets. "Okay, look, I'm with the Llanview Police Department," he said gruffly showing his badge. "Has there been a teenaged girl here buying tickets? She has dirty blonde hair, hazel eyes, and I think she was wearing a black halter top and camouflage capris?"

"Oh, you just missed her," the teenager replied submissively waving his hand. "She was about to go inside when this man…her father was it? Anyway, he was pissed off, and he took her with him. Do you want her tickets?" With a grin, the boy held up two tickets reading _Chickadee _on them in all capital letters.

"What did the man look like?" Bo demanded, taking the tickets and stuffing them in his back pocket.

"Oh, I don't know…he had a hat and sunglasses and a large overcoat on; pretty queer, if you ask me. I mean, we're right in the middle of summer, for God's sakes! But here, she left her wallet here, so—"

"Okay, thank you." Bo walked back over to Granger, who looked extremely worried to see that Lily was not with him.

"Bo? Where's—?"

"He took her, you idiot! Because you two didn't come to me in the first place, Lily was kidnapped!"


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

"Bo? What's wrong?" Paige and Matthew appeared next to Bo and Granger, their arms loaded with popcorn and cups of soda.

Bo sighed. _"Should I tell Paige and Matthew? After all, they're pretty close to Lily." _He decided against telling them; Matthew would be too upset and besides, they still had a chance of finding Lily before anyone else got involved. "Paige," he began taking his girlfriend's hands, "I'm gonna have to bail out of the movie for tonight; police business."

"But _Dad, _it's _Harry Potter!_" Matthew whined.

"I still have my ticket, Buddy. If this thing gets cleared up, maybe I'll sneak into the theater late."

"Okay." Matthew slumped back into the lobby followed by Paige.

Bo turned to Granger threateningly. "I don't have time to kill you now for putting my niece in danger, but if _anything _happens to her—"

"Commissioner, Lily is my life. _I _wanted to tell you, but _she _didn't want me to, so I was respecting her wishes."

Bo gave him a glare while Lily's cell phone rang. He pulled it out and looked at it. "Who's Connie?"

"She's one of our friends," Granger replied quickly reaching out to take the phone. "Can I—?"

"No! It's evidence."

"Okay, sir. I'm just gonna call my friends and tell them that we won't make it to their house." Before waiting for an answer, he filed past the teenaged smokers and pulled out his phone, dialing Jade's number as fast as his fingers would let him. When he pressed "send," he jammed his ear against the speaker listening the taunting sound of ringing through it. _"Damn it, Jade, pick up!" _After six vicious rings, he finally heard loud voices and then Jade.

"Dude, like, where the hell are you and Lily? She won't pick up her cell phone!"

"Jade, I can't explain right now, but we won't be able to make it. I need you and Farah to come back to Llanview pronto."

"Why—?"

"I don't have time to explain, just come."

"_Why?_"

Granger took a deep breath. "Jade, Lily's missing."

"Jade, who's on the phone?" Leigh's faint voice called over the phone.

"Are they coming?" whispered another, who he recognized as Sandy.

"Shut up! Granger, what the hell are you saying?"

"I'm saying 'Get your ass over here so we can find her!' Look, I don't care if you get a thousand speeding tickets, you and Farah need to get over here. You two know her best."

"Granger—"

"Listen, I'll explain everything in detail when you get here, just please don't tell anyone."

"I'll be right there." _Click. _

When Granger went to rejoin Bo, John McBain, Antonio Vega, and Talia Sahid had already arrived. Lily's Razr cell phone was in John's hand, who was intently reading over the text message. Antonio was off to find the young ticket attendant, and Talia was in rapid conversation with Bo.

"You see! This is what happens when we don't watch her close enough, Commissioner! I told you that she'd do something horrible; if we just got her extra counseling, _maybe _she would've been comfortable telling us—"

"This is _not _Lily's fault!" Granger snapped. "She was scared to death—"

"Huh, she was too scared to get help. Why didn't _you _come to us?"

"Lily made me _swear _that I wouldn't tell anyone—"

"That's _enough!_" Bo shouted. "Okay, Granger, we have people searching the parking lot and driving around. Antonio is asking the ticket salesman questions, and John's trying to trace the cell phone source. We're doing the _best we can._"

"We need to try harder!" Granger pleaded desperately. "Jade and Farah are coming here, and they've both been through so much, I really need to give them good news—"

"Why the _hell _did you call them?" Talia asked with her hands on her hips, striking the famous "John McBain" pose. "We don't want to call attention to this—"

"Oh, so I suppose we're going to avoid telling David and Tina that their daughter is missing—"

"Tina and David," Bo groaned from behind Granger and Talia. "They need to know."

"Commissioner, do you want me to—?"

"No thanks, Talia, I'd better do this. You two _stay here _and _keep your eyes peeled._" Taking out his own cell phone, he ventured off to make the fateful call to David and Tina. Talia rolled her eyes and looked at Granger.

"Look, I'm going to ask people if they saw the car that the man got into with Lily," she said breathlessly. "Be careful because when Tina Lord gets here, she'll want to tear you limb from limb." She turned on her heel and began interrogating the bystanders assertively.

Granger took out his cell phone, automatically reaching to call Lily as if pressing her name on the phone would miraculously make her appear out of thin air. _"Why didn't I turn the freaking phone into the cops earlier? Why did I let Lily buy those tickets? I should've been a better boyfriend. I mean I lo—"_

"It wasn't your fault, kid." John had appeared suddenly next to Granger. Granger was so taken back by the detective's entrance that he could have sworn that he was reading his mind.

"Did you find out anything from the cell phone?"

"No. Some guys took it back to the station. We have some equipment there that can track the caller of the text messages."

"We can't wait for that! Lily might not have that much time!" He took an uncertain step to no specific direction in particular as if to go and find Lily himself, but John reached out casually and pulled him back by the shoulder.

"Listen; I know Lily. She's a really smart kid, and she'll survive. I can feel it. What _you _can do now is stay positive. Lily isn't going to give in; she cares about you too much, and so many people need her. She's not going anywhere." He looked up as Bo, Antonio, and Talia approached the detective and teenager. "Okay, what have we got so far?"

"The ticket salesman was _no _help," Antonio groaned wiping his brow with his wrist. "'And the dude just _rode off _with her!' Idiot. I'm telling you guys, as soon as we find Lily, I'm making sure he is fired."

"Talia?"

"Nobody could identify the man or the car. Apparently, Lily was screaming, but the man kept acting like her _father. _He was saying things like 'You're in big trouble now' and 'You're grounded for life.' Nobody could see what car they got into, but he rode out of the back parking lot."

"Okay. I couldn't get any source from the phone, so one of the officers sent it down to the station for me."

"And I called Tina and David," Bo finished with a long sigh, turning to Granger. "They're as mad as hell. In Tina's words, she'll 'rip you apart limb from limb.'"

"I told you so," Talia muttered. "Okay, I really think that _we _ought to join the search. I'll keep searching the back entrance."

"I'll go with you, Talia," Antonio offered. "If we see anything, one of us needs to be able to get out of the car quickly."

"You might not want to go just yet," Granger said in a tense voice.

"Why not?"

"Because Tina and David are here." Sure enough, two cars had pulled in at full speed: one was Viki's, and one was Dorian's. The back door of Viki's car had opened, and CJ came running across the parking lot at full speed. In one swift move, he had knocked Granger to the floor and was attempting to strangle him.

"You son of a bitch! What were you thinking? For the past few weeks, you were all that my sister could talk about, and now you let some freak kidnap her! I'll kill you! I'll kill you!"

"CJ, get off!" Sarah had arrived and was attempting to pull CJ off of Granger. With help from Antonio and Talia, she had gained control of her brother and was holding him back although he was violently thrashing around. He was not the only one who was trying to have his piece of Granger; Todd was already trying to break out of Viki's arms, and Dorian was restraining David. Tina, however, was unusually calm and was trying to approach Granger.

"I want to know what kind of a fool you take us for," she said shakily. "Lily was over the moon about you, and this is how you treat her? I won't kill you here because maybe you'll actually be use to helping us find Lily, but as soon as we find her, I will kill you." With that, she sunk to the ground sobbing. "I can't lose my daughter again! I can't lose her! I won't!" CJ had momentarily forgotten his hatred for Granger as he and Viki pulled his hysterical mother to her feet. Sarah, who was now crying herself, ran into Todd's arms. Dorian temporarily let go of David to scold the staring crowd, but as soon as she turned back to her fiancé, he already advanced on Granger knocking him to the ground with vigorous punches.

"Vickers, get _off _of him!" John shouted pulling David up. Granger stumbled to his feet, this time with two black eyes, a bloody nose, and a puffy lip. John quickly handcuffed David. "I know you want to find your daughter, but this _will not _help! So while we look for him, you're going to wait at the station."

"Officer Simmons will take you," Bo added indicating one of the officers who had arrived. "Simmons, bring Vickers to my office and call my dad and brother. Clint will come and stay with him until I get there myself."

"Bo—"

"Vickers, _go!_" Officer Simmons pulled a struggling David in the back of his squad car and drove off.

"Bo, should I go to the station and stay with David?" Dorian asked, her face as white as a ghost. "He's worried sick about his daughter and—"

"No thanks, Dorian; Clint and Asa will look after him. Besides, right now, I think that right now, David would want you to help us look for Lily."

Dorian nodded quickly, as if something was in her ear that she needed to get away from. "Of course. Lily and I may have our differences, but I do care about her, and I would be relieved if we could find her tonight." Her jaw line stiffened. "We _will _find her tonight. I can feel it."

"If only I had your confidence," Bo murmured to himself.

* * *

"I can't believe that I was sent to the freaking police station!" Officer Simmons was pulling David through the squad room and into Bo's office. "I need to find my daughter, dammit! I can't sit around while she's out there getting hurt!"

"Listen, it was the Commissioner's orders," the officer said calmly unlocking David's handcuffs. "Your brother will be here soon, and if we get any news on your daughter, I'll let you know. Just stay put, okay?" He left the office closing the door behind him.

For a minute, David had half a mind to sneak out of the back door. He _had _to find his daughter; how could Bo even think that he could stay in his office? Without thinking, he placed his palm on the door knob, but it would not budge. _"Damn it! They locked me in!" _His next thought was to take anything out of Bo's office and throw it; throw it as far as it could go until it broke into tiny pieces. He was just about to grab a miniature plastic figurine of Mickey and Minnie Mouse off of the filing cabinet when the door opened, and Clint and Asa stepped into the office.

"David!"

David looked up suddenly, his red face filled with rage. His breathing was loud and fast as if he had just run fifty miles. "Someone took her," he said in a threatening voice. "Someone took her, and who knows if I'll ever see my little girl again?"

* * *

Lily waited in fear as the car stopped, probably taking her straight to Hell. Where was she? Who had her?

"Come on!" a rough voice called dragging Lily out of the car. Lily closed her eyes in fear as the man pulled her quivering body into the house. She heard footsteps and soon a second male voice called out, "You have her?"

"Right here!" The man who was holding Lily thrust her into the other man's arms. Lily opened her eyes as wide as slits to see the blurred but yet recognizable figure.

"You thought that you could escape from me? Well, well, well, Lily, nobody escapes Richard Patterson that easily!"


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

"Richard..." Lily's voice trailed off, her mind clogged up with thoughts and emotions. Richard? No, it could not be…but it was…the same gelled brown hair, the same clean shaven face, the same eyes filled with evil and hatred; he was even wearing the same brown business suit!

"Hello, Lily," Richard replied in a pleasant voice. "I've been expecting you; apparently, I was wrong to drop you off in Llanview. I should have done my research and figured out that it was Tina's home town, but in good time, my dear, all of that will be the past, and you'll be nothing but a memory." He held up a gun just level to his supposed daughter's chest but lowered it slightly. "Of course, I won't kill you," he continued slyly with a relaxed smile on his face. "That would just be too easy. No, come with me." He and the other man pulled Lily to her feet and dragged her into a dark and damp living room. It smelled like mold and she could see a few pieces of furniture, but Richard was focused on a throw rug that was in the center of the room. He peeled it off of the creaking floor revealing a trap door. Lily could not see behind the trap door, but Richard dragged her across the room and threw her through the trapped door.

Lily expected to land on a hard, cold ground, but surprisingly, she landed on something soft and spongy; spongy, that was it! The whole room was a sponge room. Richard dropped into the room and flicked on the lights, making the room nice and bright with the masked man right behind him. Lily, much to Richard's delight, was quivering crazily, her eyes frantically searching the room and finally landed on the gun that Richard still had, this time leveled right in between her eyes.

"Okay, this is how we're going to do this," Richard said calmly. He watched as Lily squirmed uncomfortably on the floor. "Don't you remember sixth grade, Lily? Remember sixth grade when you learned about solitary confinement. 'Oh, Daddy, it was horrible. People actually go _insane!_' Well, this is how you are going to die: slowly and painfully. Every day you're going to stay here slowly losing your mind, every part of you leaving this world one by one…you'll be crying out for food and water and civilization…and I'll just sit here and laugh and laugh and laugh!" He pointed his gun at the ceiling and shot a bullet through it, making Lily jump. "Enjoy your stay."

* * *

Granger slapped a pack of ice over his swollen face. After an hour of searching, Antonio had insisted that he go home. His apartment in the Angel Square Hotel seemed so empty; usually, he and Lily would be listening to music or attempting to make food in his microscopic kitchen or just cuddling on his couch laughing hysterically. It was time to face reality; Lily was still missing, and it was all because of him. 

A knock at the door brought Granger back to attention, and he automatically knew who it was; it was the conversation that he was dreading to have ever since he made the first phone call. He slowly pulled himself off of his couch and trudged to the door, where Jade and Farah stood on the other side.

"Granger!" As soon as the door had opened, Farah leapt into Granger's arms, sobbing hysterically into his shoulder. "Where's Lily? _Where the hell is Lily? _I swear to God, I'm going to kill whoever has her—"

"Granger, what happened to you?" Jade asked peering suspiciously at his friend. Jade was as white as chalk, and his hands were quivering like an earthquake.

"Long story," Granger replied. Farah finally pried herself off of him and wiped her eyes.

"Okay, so what happened? Jade told me that she was missing…she was _kidnapped?_ My God…"

"Farah, remember that text message that Lily received a few days ago; the one we couldn't identify?"

"Yeah, the one that Enrique sent? I remember, he sent it while the girls, Lily, and I went out to breakfast, and we all had a big laugh about it. Granger, _why _does it matter, Enrique is an asshole; he does this type of stuff."

"It _wasn't _Enrique, Farah. Lily kept getting more text messages over the next few days. I wanted her to turn her cell phone into the police, but she wouldn't let me, and tonight when we were at the movies…"

"Granger…" Jade's eyes were wide with shock. "Don't tell me…_please _don't tell me…"

"The bastard who sent the text messages…took Lily."

* * *

"Why hasn't Bo sent news?" 

David nervously paced the length of Bo's office. Clint and Asa were both seated on the couch to the side of the office, both of them just as nervous as he was although they did not show it. If Bo had not insisted that they stay with David, they would have been out looking for Lily themselves.

The only thing that stopped David in his tracks was when the door opened, and Dorian filed in followed by CJ, Sarah, Tina, and Viki. "Oh, it's just you guys," he grunted. "What the hell are you all doing here? Why aren't you _looking _for Lily?"

"Uncle Bo thought that I had to come here just because I threatened to slit Granger's throat with my car keys," Sarah replied sitting down on Bo's desk and swinging her legs back and forth.

Dorian stepped forward and put her hand on Sarah's shoulder. "Sarah, darling, you _were _a little bit out of order—"

"I don't want to hear it, Dorian!"

"Okay, okay, let's just relax for a second," Viki interjected stepping between her rival and her niece. "Todd is still at the movie theaters with Antonio and Talia, and now Renee, Michael, Marcie, Kevin, Jessica, Natalie, Kelly, Blair, and Adriana have arrived to look for her. There are missing flyers being printed in _The Banner _and _The Sun _should she not return home tonight."

"We just have to keep a cool head," Dorian agreed. "Bo and Lieutenant McBain are tracing the source of the text messages. Everything is going to be _fine._" Sighs of frustration were let out by David, Tina, CJ, and Sarah.

"What if we're _too late_?" Tina whined throwing her hands in the air and sitting down in the chair in front of Bo's desk. "What if Lily is hurt or _dead _by the time we find her?"

"God will not let that happen, honey," Viki said gently putting her hands on her sister's shoulders. "Lily is going to come home safe and healthy. We have to keep praying."

"She's got to be okay," CJ spoke up shakily from the corner of the room. "She's just got to be…"

"Well, that girl is both a Buchanan and a Lord," Clint added. "She has enough fighting power to go around. Lily can survive this."

"We can't give up," Asa concluded. "We're her family, and we can't let her down."

There was a silence in which everyone went around to do their own thing. David started to retrace his steps around the office with Dorian following after him as if she were a hungry dog begging David for meat. Tina had buried her face in her hands making it impossible to see whether she was crying or not as Viki gingerly comforted her. Sarah carefully slid off of the desk and took a seat in between her grandfather and great-grandfather. CJ silently shrunk back into the corner of the room, his expression unreadable.

"That's it," Clint coaxed putting his arm around Sarah and squeezing her to him. "Now, all we have to do is wait, and we'll be just fine."

* * *

Farah, Granger, and Jade had all fallen asleep on Granger's bed for the past half an hour after arguing possibilities on where Lily could be or who could have taken her. All ideas that they had come up with seemed as crazy and unbelievable as the next, and soon, they just found it hopeless. Just then, they were jolted awake by the loud heavy metal music that was on Jade's phone. 

"Great Scott, that's my phone!" Jade murmured groping around the bed for his phone. Farah got up and rubbed her eyes.

"Will it be about Lily?"

"Farah, you idiot, why would they call Jade's phone? I think they would call my phone—"

"SHUT UP!" Jade screeched as he opened up the phone. "Hello?"

"Honey, it's Aunt Nora," the voice on the other end. Jade tilted his head concerned. Nora had sounded worried. _"Did I forget to tell her that I was going out tonight?" _he thought.

"Oh, hey, Aunt Nora."

"Honey, I just ran into Bo at the police station, and he just told me—"

"That Lily was missing?"

"How did you know?"

"Granger called me when they found out, and Farah and I decided to come home to look for her."

"Did they find Lily?" Farah squealed from under Jade's elbow. Jade slapped her arm to be quiet.

"Did Bo find any more evidence?"

"Yes, actually, they just got something back from the lab. I was going to call you to tell you, but seeing as you are home—"

"I'll be right there." He shut his phone and looked at Granger and Farah's expectant faces. "We're taking a field trip to the police station. Nora says that they might have found evidence."

* * *

"If we don't find Lily _right now, _someone is going to be murdered," Sarah spoke up breaking the awkward silence and making everyone jump. All of the people in the office seemed to have been dozing off but were immediately brought back to reality. 

"I'm sure Bo will send good news soon," Viki said calmly patting Tina on the shoulder. As if the door were reading her mind, it opened, but instead of Bo or John entering, Granger, Jade, and Farah came in.

"_Please _tell me that Bo sent you three to tell us good news," Tina groaned. She looked to exhausted to threaten Granger, and her puffy eyes seemed to be fighting hard to stay opened.

"No," Farah replied glumly. "D.A. Hanen told us to come down here because Commissioner Buchanan found evidence."

"So you don't know if it is good or bad?" Sarah asked.

"No," Granger replied.

"_That's _it!" Sarah exclaimed digging into her pocket and taking out her keys. She pinned Granger to the walls and held her keys to her throat at the same moment when John and Bo came it.

"_What the hell _is going on?" John asked taking in the scene before him. Sarah loosened her grip on Granger, but she was still holding him rather forcefully.

"Umm, well, I said that if we didn't find Lily now, someone was going to get murdered, and who better than the guy who pretty much got her kidnapped?"

Bo sighed. "Sarah, come on, you don't want to do this now."

"Oh, Uncle Bo, I _so _want to do this now!"

Clint and Viki silently stood up and pulled Sarah off of the teenager, who had an imprint of where the keys touched his throat. "Bo, do you have _any _idea as to where Lily might be?" Viki inquired.

John stepped forward to answer for Bo with a lab report in his hands. "We were able to trace the call," he said heavily.

"And?" CJ asked expectantly.

"Each text message was sent by a different cell phone," John explained.

Tina gave out a groan. "So there is _nothing _that we can do?" she asked desperately.

"There is one thing that we can do," John replied, "and it's already been done."

"What?"

"We called the cable company to see who purchased the phones," Bo answered. "This bastard obviously didn't play his cards right or else he would have stolen different phones. The guy who took Lily and was stalking her was…" He took a deep breath. "Richard Patterson."


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Lily felt as if she were losing her grip. Sure, Richard had only held her for a little over twelve hours, but she felt that she was going insane. Little by little, her mind was leaving her head, just as Richard had promised. As soon as Richard and his associate had left the room the night before, Lily had shrunk into the corner of the room, senselessly banging her head against the spongy wall, hoping for someone to hear her. Of course, the wall was soft, and nobody could hear her anyway down in the basement. Pressing her ear against the wall, all she could hear were slow, threatening footsteps across the top floor. She thought that one of the men would check on her, but nobody ever came down. Eventually, she must have fallen asleep because she suddenly awoke with a headache.

She felt her head; no, there were no bumps…it just hurt, probably from the severe hunger she was experiencing at the moment. _"I wish I had bought those nachos at the movie theater with Granger." _Her heart felt like something was stabbing it at the thought of Granger. Was Granger looking for her? What about Jade and Farah and Connie and all the rest of her friends? Did David and Tina know she was missing? So many questions were left unanswered, and she was hurting too much to answer them now.

"Rise and shine, sleepy head!" a cheerful voice called. Richard dropped himself into the room and beamed at Lily. "Ah, I see you are already up! Good, just _peachy_! Did you enjoy your first night here?" He waited for Lily to reply, but she was shaking vigorously and did not answer. "Is that so? Well, don't worry, a few more days, maybe weeks at the most, and all of your suffering will be over."

Finally, Lily could not hold in her silence. "You sick bastard!" she spat out. "You're not going to get away from this!"

"Oh yeah?" Richard chortled. "Do you _really _think that Tina is strong enough to save you _this _time?"

"I don't know about that…but my _dad _is going to find me."

* * *

John trudged to his office; the previous night had been tough. He had to deal with not only Tina but David, CJ, and Sarah. Granger, Farah, and Jade, however, had been strangely quiet and when asked to leave the police station the night before when they were getting in the way, they left without a sound.

He approached his office door and was just about to get out his keys.

"AUGH!"

"What the hell?" John looked at the ground to see Jade, Granger, and Farah lying outside of his office door. Jade and Farah were asleep, but Granger, very much awake, was clutching his stomach trying to get John to get off of him.

Farah stood up and groggily rubbed her eyes. "Oh, good morning, Lieutenant," she greeted in a tired, faraway voice. "Good, you finally got here."

"Yeah, umm, sorry if I sound rude, but WHAT THE HELL ARE THE THREE OF YOU DOING SLEEPING OUTSIDE MY OFFICE DOOR?"

"Well, after you gave us the news about Lily, you wouldn't let us stay," Jade said simply, "so we snuck back in, and Officer Simmons let us crash out here."

"I'll kill him," John mumbled. "Well, there's no use staying out here; get your asses into my office."

"Does that mean you heard news about Lily?" Granger asked hopefully massaging his stomach.

John gave him a relaxed smile. "I can't _tell _you until you GET THE HELL INTO MY OFFICE!"

Silently, Jade, Farah, and Granger filed into John's office and took a seat on his couch. "Well, were you able to track down Lily's step dad?"

John sighed heavily and paced back and forth in front of the three teenagers. He immediately wished he had Bo's job; right now, he was telling Tina and David about Lily's whereabouts, but that was much easier. Granger, Jade, and Farah were just kids. Would they understand about the rescuing process that he, Bo, Antonio, and Talia were going to do?

"We found out that Richard Patterson is currently residing in his associate's house outside of town. Commissioner Buchanan, Detective Vega, Officer Sahid, and I are going to go and get Lily today."

"I want to go too, John," Jade spoke up hopefully.

"No way," John refused. "First of all, you are too young and not the authorities, and second, Nora would kill me. No, you three are going to stay _here_, and I'm going to have someone watch over you."

"Yeah, like _who_?" Granger challenged.

Just then, John's office door opened, and Rex Balsom came in with a bunch of papers in his hands. "McBain, thank God, I need your help on a case—"

"Balsom, _just in time_," John beamed. "Step outside my office for a second so we can talk."

Jade watched for a moment as Rex and John left the office and then turned to his friends and whispered, "It's okay, you guys, this guy is a complete idiot. We'll be able to sneak past him in no time."

"I don't know," Farah frowned. "I mean, what if we screw something up? From what Lily told me, this Richard Patterson character is insane. He could _kill _her."

"Farah, don't be stupid," Granger shot back. "I'm with Jade. If this guy is as stupid as Jade says, we'll be able to sneak past him; unless you want to _stay_, Farah."

Farah blushed quickly. "Of course not," she muttered.

John and Rex walked back in. "All right, _adolescents, _Mr. Balsom here will be watching you while I'm gone. Don't try _anything _while you're under his supervision."

"John," Jade tried pleadingly.

John's face softened. "Look, when I find out something, you three will be the first to know," he promised. "We just need to focus on getting Lily out of there safely. All right?"

"_Okay._"

John grabbed his gun and stepped out of the office. Before closing his door behind him, he looked back at the three teenagers. "We're going to find Lily, I promise."

* * *

"Bastard," Tina said softly.

She was sitting in Bo's office with David, Viki, Todd, CJ, Sarah, and Dorian and had just heard about Richard's whereabouts.

"What the hell are you doing standing around?" Todd asked Bo menacingly. "Why aren't you going to that damn place and rescuing my niece?"

"We are going to go and get her right now," Bo replied calmly. "John, Antonio, Talia, and I are leaving in a few minutes. We just had to let you know before we went out and got here—"

"I want to go with you," David spoke up.

"Yeah, me too," Tina seconded.

Bo took a deep breath as if to launch into a huge explanation as to why they could not come, but he stopped. He knew what it felt like to be in their position. Besides, Lily was his niece, and this was personal for him too. "Fine," he murmured, "but you are to park _down the street _from the house and _wait _for my call until you can come." He turned to Viki and Dorian. "Can I trust you two to _get along _and keep an eye on Tina and David?"

"Of course," Dorian said in a tight voice. For the first time since Lily had gone missing, she looked scared.

"Absolutely," Viki agreed putting a comforting hand on Tina's shoulder.

"Uncle Bo, what about us?" CJ asked standing up and putting his arm around Sarah. "Lily is our sister; we need to be there for her. She would do the same for us!"

"Absolutely not," Tina said standing up and facing her children. "You were living with Richard for half your lives. You _know _what he is capable of. No, you're staying _here._"

"I'm with your mother on this one," Bo answered in agreement. "You two can stay in my office, and when we get her, you can come down. Todd, can you stay with them?"

"Yeah," Todd replied patting Sarah's shoulder. "They're safe with me."

"Okay, then, we're going to go," Bo said standing up and heading towards the door with Tina, David, Viki, and Dorian following him. Sarah and CJ stared at Todd as if asking, _"What do we do now?" _Todd clapped his hands.

"Okay, you know what? Viki, Tina, and I always play cards when we're bored, and it just so happens I brought a pack with me. Does anyone want to play 'Go fish?'?"

­­

* * *

Lily felt exhausted; when Richard had left the room a few minutes ago, she had a few new bruises on her face and cuts all over her body. Her head was throbbing uncontrollably, and she felt as if it were about to explode. Suddenly, she heard a faint voice.

_"Hold on!"_

"What?" Lily quickly searched the room. The voice sounded like a woman's voice, but no one was in the room. Had Richard achieved what he planned? Was Lily really going insane?

"_Lily, honey, you need to hold on!"_

"Mom?" Lily dared to say, looking around the room wildly. She did a full search of the room, and when her head faced front again, Tina had materialized in front of her. "Mom!" she cried. "What are you doing here?"

"_I'm not really here, sweetie,"_ Tina replied with a sad smile, _"but we're coming. You need to hold on. Don't let Richard destroy you, honey."_

"It's too hard!" Lily choked out. David appeared next to Lily.

"_Lily, listen to me. We'll be there in a little while, but right now, you cannot let Richard hurt you. We need you. I need my little girl. You have a whole line of people at home who care about you. They all love you and want you home!"_

"I can't do this anymore!" Lily screamed as loud as she could. "I've been living with this my whole life, and even a brief moment in Richard's clutches is driving me _insane!_"

She heard loud footsteps on the floor above her. She turned to her parents desperately. "What do I do now, Mom?"

"_Hold on!" _With that, she and David disappeared.

"Mom! David! No, don't leave!" She heard someone drop to the floor, and Richard's masked attendant was standing in front of her.

"Talking to the air, are you? Won't Richard be proud! He's getting what he wanted in just a few brief hours." He put his arms on Lily's shoulder, digging his nails into her skin. "Unfortunately, Richard cannot have more satisfaction. These walls are not soundproof like we were promised, and the neighbors are getting suspicious, so we're going to have to kill you now."

"NO!" Lily screamed trying to squirm away from the man. "No!"

"But _before _we do that," the man continued, "Richard promised me a favor. You see, when I'm not working for the boss, I'm at home with my beautiful wife. However, she cannot have children."

"You wouldn't," Lily said shakily. "No, no, please, just kill me now, please!"

"We cannot keep you around for nine months, no," the man sighed, but Lily could still sense a sneer from behind his ski mask. "But a good buddy of mine is a doctor. I figure we get that little baby growing inside of you, and we can transplant it into my wife. She won't know the difference, and you'll be nothing but a memory."

"No! NO!"

"Oh yes. Don't you want to experience sex before you die? Or have you had enough from when you were a child?"

* * *

"This is it," Bo said gruffly getting about of the squad car. John turned off the car and followed Bo with Antonio and Talia close behind. "Listen, everybody, you know the plan." He strode over to the door and knocked furiously. "Richard Patterson, this is Llanview Police! Open up!"

* * *

David and Tina could not take it anymore. "I'm going out there," David growled opening the door of the car. "I have to get my daughter. She's two blocks away, and we're just sitting around!"

"I'm going with David," Tina agreed following him out of the car.

"David, Tina, you mustn't!" Viki exclaimed getting up. "You'll be putting your daughter in more danger!"

"As much as I hate to say this, Viki is right," Dorian agreed. "They could be holding a gun to your daughter's head, and if that son of a bitch even sees her parents coming up the street, I'm sure he would kill her. Just let Bo and John do their jobs. They both care about Lily very much, and I'm sue they can get her easily. We just need to stay calm, right David?" She looked around, but David was nowhere to be found. "David? No! Where did he go?"

* * *

Richard heard the knocking at his door. _"They're coming," _he thought to himself. He quickly ran through the living room and lifted the floor board. "The police are here, you fool!" he called to his attendant. "We need to get out of here! Forget the girl, we'll get her another time!"

Meanwhile, the attendant had just drugged Lily. "I didn't get _my _fair end of the deal, boss," he replied. "Either you buy me time to get her out of here and give me the child I deserve, or I expose you!"

"Forget her!" Richard called desperately. "They're trying to break down the door!" The associate watched his boss disappear before turning to the unconscious Lily.

"I may not have gotten my chance at you," he whispered, "but that doesn't mean that you won't remember that I never did it. As far as you know, I raped you, my sweet." With that, he leaped out of the sponge room, out of the house, and out of Richard's life.

* * *

Richard slowly backed into his bedroom. He _had _to get out of the house now. If he stayed and fought, he would have most certainly been arrested and besides that, who even knew for sure that _he _had Lily? He quickly looked around the room. "Damn, where did I put my gun?" he yelled aloud.

"Looking for this?" Richard turned to see David Vickers standing in front of him, a gun level to his chest.

"Well, well, well," Richard sneered, "if it isn't David Vickers? Yes, I heard a lot about you from Lily. _She _seemed to think that you were in that sponge room with her." He made his voice high and whiny, as if to impersonate Lily. "_'Help me, David! Mom, no, they're going to kill me!_ Ha!"

"You give me my daughter, Patterson, or I'll kill you."

"Oh, don't worry, I have had a rich and fulfilling life," Richard sighed happily. "I had a successful business and lots of money. Of course, a low point might have been marrying that whore and raising her brat children, but it was all worth it; it got me more money! So, go ahead, kill me. I'd like to see you try!"

"One," David said threateningly.

"Oh, so _now _you're treating me like a naughty child?"

"Two."

Richard's face tensed. "Now, wait, remember what you're doing. You can go to—"

"THREE!"

David watched the bullet pierce forcefully through Richard's chest. He had done it. He had gotten justice for his daughter. "You hurt Tina, CJ, Sarah, and most of all, my daughter," he growled, "but now you can rot forever in Hell."


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

David looked down at Richard with satisfaction. He had just killed the man who had hurt his daughter, and he was proud of it.

"Vickers, _what the hell did you do?_" Antonio and Talia rushed into the room but stopped in the doorway and took in the scene: a dead Richard Patterson on the floor and David holding a gun. After a moment, Talia got down on her hands and knees and inspected Richard.

"No pulse, no breathing; he's dead, Antonio," she declared staring down at the lifeless body, "and frankly, I can't say that I'm sorry to see him go."

"Me neither…where's Lily? She isn't up here, is she?"

David's eyes went wide. "Oh my God! Lily!" He ran downstairs followed by Antonio and immediately met up with Bo and John, in the living room.

"Vickers, _what _are you doing here?" John asked putting his hand on his hips. "Bo told you to _stay in the car._"

"He killed him," Antonio replied simply. "David killed Richard Patterson."

Bo shot David a look. "David?"

"Charge me later; I just want to find my daughter!" David interrupted quickly. John stomped on the floor below him.

"Well, I think we found her…she's down here. Vickers, Bo and I will get her. We don't know if any of Patterson's cronies are down there. Ready, Bo?"

"Ready." John lifted the trap door and dropped into the room. He glared with disgust at the room; it was a sponge room, probably meant for Lily to suffer even more.

"Bastard," he murmured. Bo appeared next to him and looked around the room with the same disgust. Suddenly, John spotted an unconscious Lily in the corner of the room. "Bo, this way!" he called over his shoulder as he sprinted across the room. He checked her pulse; it was weak, but she was still alive. Her face was covered with so many cuts and bruises, and he could tell that it was all Richard's doing. "Lily," he whispered checking her shallow breathing, "can you hear me?"

There was no answer. Bo caught up to John and looked down at his niece. "Come on, we've got to get her to a hospital. Antonio already called an ambulance, and they will be here momentarily."

Just then, they heard a quiet voice whisper, "John?"

John looked down at Lily with a start. Her eyes were slightly opened, but she still looked out of it. "Lily," he sighed with relief. "Don't worry; we're going to get you out of here. Your parents are here, and you're going to be okay." With one easy motion, he lifted Lily into his arms. "You're going to be okay," he repeated. "Does anything hurt?"

"No…I don't think I'm hurt that badly…"

"Okay, sweetie, the ambulance is on its way," Bo assured her. He led John across the room and through the trapped door, where they were met by David and Antonio.

"Lily!" David rushed to John and lifted his daughter out of the lieutenant's arms, cradling her into his own. "Honey, I am _so _sorry. I'm sorry I wasn't here sooner…it's okay now, all right? You're safe, and that's all that matters. You're gonna be just fine."

Through her tired eyes, Lily looked up at her father. "David…where's Richard? How did you find me? What's going on?"

"Don't worry about that, honey," David replied stroking her hair. "Right now, we have to get you checked out at the hospital. Michael and Paige are there waiting for us, and they're gonna take care of you. Okay?"

"Okay," Lily replied faintly, but she immediately passed out after that. A faint sound of sirens was heard.

"That's the ambulance," Bo said softly. "Come on, we really need to get her to the hospital." David took firm hold of his daughter and strode out of the house.

"LILY!"

Tina ran up to David and looked into her daughter's bruised face. "Oh, honey! Honey, I was _so _scared, baby!" She gave David a sharp look. "David, what the hell happened to her? Where's Richard? I'M GOING TO KILL HIM!"

"It's been done already," David said heavily. "I…shot Richard."

He looked into Tina's eyes, which were filled with rage for Richard and somewhat respect for David. Their eyes stayed locked for a moment until Tina looked away. "Come on, we've got to get her to a hospital," she said quickly as the paramedics hurried over. "You're going to be okay, baby, just hold on…"

David gently lowered his daughter onto the stretcher as Dorian came over to join them with Viki right behind her. "Lily, darling…oh, honey, you've got to hold on, your father was so worried about you…"

Viki pulled her sister into a hug. "Are you okay?" she whispered.

"Yeah," Tina replied wiping the tears from her eyes. "I'm relieved…everything is the way it's supposed to be; Lily is okay, and Richard is dead."

"Richard is dead?" Viki raised her eyebrow.

"D-David killed him."

"Tina," David interrupted, "I'm going to go in the ambulance with her. Are you coming?"

"Yeah, I…the kids! The kids need to know, they're probably so anxious—"

"Tina, I'm going to call them," Viki assured her patting her shoulder. "Don't worry; I'm going to let them know. Go be with your daughter, and Dorian and I will be at the hospital in a few minutes."

"Thanks, Viki." She looked down at her daughter's bruised face and took her hand. "Let's go, David," she whispered.

* * *

"CJ, do you have any threes?"

"Go fish."

"_Damn it!_"

Sarah looked at her brother and her uncle. _Why _in the world were they playing cards when Lily was out there missing? Even a game of "Go Fish" against Todd would not distract her from the reality that her ex-stepfather had her little sister.

_Ring, ring! _Sarah felt her phone vibrating madly not to mention the annoying ringing sound coming out of her purse. She quickly took out her phone and opened it without even looking at who was calling her. "Is Lily okay?" she asked the phone.

"Honey, it's Aunt Viki," Viki's voice replied. "Lily is fine. They took her to the hospital to have her checked out. At the worst, she should have to stay overnight—"

"We'll be right there." She closed her phone. "They found Lily."

"What did the bastard do to her?" CJ asked, his eyes narrowing in hatred.

"I don't know…they said she is okay and getting checked out of the hospital." She looked at her uncle with pleading eyes. "Todd, we've got to get there _now._"

"Come on, I'll take you," Todd replied putting his arm around his niece and leading her out of the office.

CJ shook his head violently. "Don't worry, you bastard, not even a jail cell will save you," he growled before following his sister and Todd.

* * *

"Eyes and ears and mouth and nose! Head, shoulders, knees and toes!" Rex finished with a high note and raised his arms proudly. "Now let's try it in French!"

"Rex, I swear, if you sing _another _little kid's song, I'm going to shoot myself," Jade groaned banging his head on the wall.

"Besides, this isn't going to help us find Lily," Granger added. "Rex, can't you just drop us—"

"Oh, believe me, I'd be there helping them myself, but McBain would kill me."

"This isn't _helping!_" Farah cried suddenly. "We need to help her, Rex, please!"

"I'm sorry, you guys. Bo, John, Antonio, and Talia will help her. They all care about Lily so much, and they are going to make sure that her bastard stepfather pays."

"_Rex, this is Foxy Roxy! Pick up your phone! Pick up your phone!_" Everybody looked at Rex in question as his mother's voice chorused out of his cell phone.

"My mom put it in," he muttered in explanation as he dug out his phone. "Balsom. You did? Is she okay? Yeah, they're right here. Okay, that's great. We'll be right there." By the time he hung up his phone, the three teenagers were leaning in expectedly. "Okay, guys, Lily is okay. She's getting checked out at the—hey!" Before he even finished his sentence, Granger, Jade, and Farah had rushed out of the room.

* * *

Almost everyone in Llanview had gathered at the hospital to make sure Lily was okay: Tina and David arrived first and met up with Marcie, who was waiting there already; Viki and Dorian were right behind them followed by Todd, Sarah, and CJ; Jessica, Carlotta, Jamie, and Natalie; Kevin and Kelly; Blair, Starr, Jack, and Adriana; Rex, Farah, Jade, and Granger; Connie, Ginny, Sandy, Leigh, Steve, Enrique, and Aiden; Lindsay and RJ; Nora and Matthew; Clint, Asa, Renee, and Nigel; Roxy; Cristian and Evangeline; Cole and Langston; Marty; finally, John, Bo, Antonio, and Talia arrived. Michael and Paige kept rushing in and out of the emergency room. At last, Michael finally came out with good news.

"Lily has a few cuts and bruises, but she doesn't have a concussion," he explained. "She wasn't dehydrated, but we put her on IV for a little while to get some nutrients in her system. You all can visit her, but only a few at a time."

"Thank you, Michael," Tina sighed with relief. "You've always looked out for my daughter from the beginning…thank you so much."

"You're welcome," Michael smiled. He walked away over to Marcie, who was crying tears of joy into Lindsay's shoulder.

"Are you okay, Tina?" a different but familiar voice asked. Tina nodded her head quickly before looking up.

"Yeah, I'm—" She suddenly stopped when she saw the speaker's face; the face of Cord Roberts. "Cord, what are you doing here?" Somehow, she was not that surprised. Of course, she did not expect Cord to fly across the ocean, but she was not shocked that he did so.

Cord put his arm around Tina. "I had to check on my cousin, didn't I?" He turned to CJ and Sarah, who ran over to him to give him a hug. "Hey, you two," he grinned.

Tina wanted to tell Cord everything, but David took her arm. "We should go see her," he whispered. He gave a quick wave to Cord, as if they had been best friends for years, and led Tina into their daughter's hospital room.

For the first time since that day, Lily's face seemed to have a little more life in it although she was still unconscious. Color had returned to her cheeks, and the air around her seemed happier. Yet, she seemed frailer as if she were just a baby again.

Tina sat down on the hospital bed and took her daughter's hand. "Hi honey…it's Mommy," she murmured softly. "We're all here…David and I are here, and everyone is outside waiting to see you. Your brother and sister are going to break down walls to see you, and you've got to meet your new cousin, Cord. And Jessica and Natalie are going on and on about doing 'cousin' things when you get out of here, and you, Dorian, and Adriana need to go dress shopping for the wedding. We all love you sweetie…and I'm so sorry that I let that monster hurt you, but it's okay. He's gone forever. Richard Patterson is dead."

"Mom?"

Tina glanced at David, who had still remained speechless, with hopeful eyes. "Lily!" she cried squeezing her daughter's hand.

"Where…am I?"

"You're at the hospital, honey. Nothing is wrong, but we just needed you to get checked out. Michael and Paige have been taking good care of you…I'm going to get them right now…I'll be right back." Still chattering to herself, Tina left the room. David took her vacated spot on the bed.

"How are you doing?"

"Fine…just tired…creep tried to pump me up with drugs, and…" She suddenly stopped, her eyes filling with pain. David softly stroked her hair.

"Shh, you don't have to talk about what happened right now. Just relax, okay?"

The door opened, and Michael and Tina had entered. Michael looked relieved to see Lily awake and most of all, alive. "Lily…honey, you're going to be okay." He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. "You have minor cuts and bruises, but there are no concussions. Are you feeling any discomfort?"

"No…asides from the fact that the beeping from the heart monitor is _really _getting on my nerves, but I'm fine."

"Okay, kid. Get your rest because tomorrow I want to see you at your normal, snappy self."

"Very funny…oh, Michael? Can you tell CJ and Sarah to come in? I really want to see them."

"Sure thing." Michael left the room and less than a split second later, CJ and Sarah sprinted into the room engulfing their sister into a hug.

"Ugh…guys…suffocating…cannot….breathe!" Taking the hint, CJ and Sarah climbed off of Lily.

"We were so scared," Sarah whispered with tears in her eyes. "A day that you are away from us again is too much."

"Are you okay?" CJ added.

"I'm fine…just tired…and drugged…and…" She wanted to desperately tell her family what Richard's associate did to her, but she could not find the courage to make the words come out of her mouth. She just wanted to forget it ever happened and get on with her life.

After all of her visitors had finally gotten to come in, tell Lily how much they missed her, and leave, Granger, Farah, and Jade finally got a chance to come and have more time with their friend.

"How are you feeling?" Farah asked stroking Lily's hair. Farah looked as perfect as always, except her makeup seemed a little smudged.

"I'm better…I guess. I missed everyone, especially you guys. Even if I was only gone for a day, it felt like eternity."

"We're glad to have you home," Jade grinned. "I can speak for us all here when I say that we were freaking out."

"Oh, you guys…" Lily smiled to herself. How did she get so lucky to have these three good friends? She looked over at Granger, who hadn't said anything. "Granger…are you okay?"

Granger looked up with a start but then gave a relaxed and sincere smile. "Yeah…just still a little…_jumpy, _I guess."

"I'm sorry I ruined your birthday. I don't know if Farah and Jade told you this, but Connie was throwing you a surprise birthday party at her grandmother's house."

"Yeah…I know." He and Lily locked eyes for a moment, and Farah took the hint.

"That's our cue…Jade, let's go to Rodi's, I'm starving." She turned to Lily and Granger. "Do you two want anything?"

"No, I think we're fine," Lily replied. Grinning at each other, Farah and Jade left Granger and Lily alone. "There's something I wanted to tell you at your birthday party…something I didn't get a chance to do."

"There's something that I wanted to tell you too," Granger replied taking her hand.

"Okay, I'll go first," they said at the same time. They grinned at each other.

"Okay, you go first," Granger said.

"Okay…Granger…from the moment I met you, something about you changed me…I want you to know that…I love you."


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

The next morning, Lily woke up with a sense of happiness and was even more overjoyed when she discovered that Granger was asleep beside her. She gave him a light kiss on the nose and carefully climbed out of bed and into a wheelchair to let her boyfriend sleep. Although she preferred not to tell her boyfriend that she loved him for the first time in a hospital room, she was quite pleased about how things turned out. Lily and Granger were in love, and she would not have it any other way.

She was just about to wheel herself out the door to get them both breakfast from the cafeteria when the door opened, and Todd came in. He took one look around the room and then looked down at his niece. "Damn, did you kill him?" he asked in a low voice. "I mean, come on, Lily, he may have just let you get kidnapped two nights ago, but come on, he's been worrying his ass off for those two days, you didn't have to kill him, no matter how close those sedatives are—"

"Shh! Todd, he's trying to sleep!" Lily looked over her shoulder to see if he had woken up, but so far, he had not moved. "Can we get outside this room for a few minutes? It's too, umm…_depressing _in here."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Todd agreed. "Come on, I'll take you outside, and we can talk." He quietly wheeled Lily into the lobby of the hospital and stopped her in front of a chair. He sat down across from her. "How are you doing, kiddo?"

"I'm…good, I guess. Better now that I'm home. You know, I've only been gone for less than a day, but it feels like a lifetime." She paused for a minute. "I don't know what's wrong with me. Shouldn't I be thankful just to be home with the people I love?"

"And is this Granger one of those people that you love?" Todd grinned.

This is one of those things that Lily hated about Todd; he always tried to make everyone's love life seem like a joke. She blushed before answering in a hurried voice, "Of course. He's one of my best friends, of course I love him."

"You _know _what I meant."

"Listen…if I tell you, I know what you're going to say: 'You're a teenager, and you don't know what love is.' That's the same thing you told your daughter."

"Starr's situation is totally—"

"Listen; I love Starr and Cole so much that they could be my brother and sister; I also love you and Blair and Marty, and I know you three want what's best for your kids, but from their point of view, keeping them apart is not the best thing to do."

"Hey, wait a minute," Todd interrupted. "_I'm _supposed to be giving _you _the advice, not the other way around."

"Would you just listen? Starr and Cole love each other, and when too people love each other that much, nothing can keep them apart."

"Okay, who are we talking about?"

"Let's just say that I answered you question about Granger and me."

"Lily!" Tina ran through the hospital and kissed her daughter on the cheek. "Hi, honey, sorry I'm late. You would not _believe _who I saw outside of the coffee shop—"

"Mom, where's David?" Lily interrupted.

"He's umm…waiting for us at Asa's house," Tina replied running her hand through her hair, like she always did when she was nervous.

"And _why _are we going to Asa's?"

"Well, umm…Bo is waiting for us there. Sweetie, I know that you probably don't want to, but Bo needs you to make a statement about what happened with Richard."

Lily's eyes widened. "You wouldn't make me…no, Mom, please, I'm not ready yet! Why do I have to? Richard is dead!"

"Honey…" Tina reached for her daughter's hand. "Bo told me that it is just legal matters, and it really should be done now."

"Mom, I can't! It's too soon!" She tried to get out of her wheelchair, but Todd and Tina both moved to push her back down. "Let go of me!" she protested.

"Honey, please!" Tina pleaded fighting hard to keep her daughter down. "You have to go! I'm sorry, but you have to!"

"Hey! What's going on here?" David and Dorian had arrived in the lobby and took in the scene before them: Todd and Tina trying to restrain Lily, who was desperately trying to fight tooth and nail against them. When Lily saw David approach her, she looked relieved.

"David, finally! Please tell Mom that I can't make a statement, not today, please!" Her muscles relaxed as if she automatically knew that David would side with her, but when she heard her father sigh, she knew she was going to get the opposite of what she wanted.

"Lily, I'm sorry, but Bo really needs you to tell him exactly what happened."

_"Great David, side with Mom," _Lily thought. "No!" she yelled. "No, I can't, it's too much! David, Mom, please!" Finally breaking out of her mother and uncle's grip, she jumped out of the wheelchair and sunk to the ground sobbing.

"Honey…" David crouched down next to his daughter. "Listen, I know you really don't want to do this, but it's one of those things in life that you _have _to do. It's going to be okay; your mom and I are going to be there; Todd and Dorian and Viki are going to be there; Bo will be there. Anyone you want can go over there and be with you, okay?"

"O-okay…"

"Okay. Okay." David pulled his sobbing daughter to him. "It's okay. You're okay. You're going to be okay."

* * *

"It's so stupid!"

Lily straightened her blouse that Dorian gave to her to change into as Granger gathered up various gift baskets that people brought the previous day.

"Lily, stop. I know that you don't want to do this, but your parents want to help you, and your uncle Bo is just doing his job."

"They could have asked me before they set up this whole arrangement!"

"Lily…" Granger put down the gifts and wrapped his arm around his girlfriend's neck. "Come on, it's not going to be as bad as you think. Just tell Bo what you know, and then you'll be able to go home. Besides, the longer you take, the longer I have to wait to take you to my apartment for the surprise."

"Oh…the surprise?"

"Yes, the surprise."

"And when will I find out about this surprise?"

"Tonight, I promise."

"Okay." Lily sounded like she was pouting as she gathered up her gifts. "Come on, Michael is waiting for us so he can sign me out."

When Lily and Granger walked out of the room, Michael and Marcie were waiting for them. "Hey, you guys," Marcie greeted.

"Hey Marcie," Lily replied. "Umm, I don't mean to be rude, but can we get this sign out thing over with? I want to just get to my Grandpa's, make this statement thing, and go home."

"Sure thing, kid," Michael smiled. "Okay, your parents already signed these papers, so basically, you're free to go."

"Thanks, Michael. Thank you both for…everything." She hugged both of them and turned to Granger. "We'd better go before Asa sends people to personally pick us up and take us there."

"Okay, then we'll let you go," Marcie said warmly.

"Good luck," Michael added.

"Thanks!" Taking Granger's hand, they walked out of the hospital together.

* * *

_Knock, knock, knock! _Granger pounded his fist against the front doors of Asa's mansion. Lily swallowed hard; the last time she was here, it was for happier occasions like when David first reintroduced her to Asa, Clint, and Renee. They planned for her to spend all of her holidays there like Christmas and Thanksgiving and her birthday…

"Miss Patterson! It's great to see you out of the hospital looking so well!" Nigel had answered the door and was beaming down at the two teenagers.

Lily managed to crack a smile. "Nigel, you know that you can call me Lily. You're like family to me; I think we can stop the formalities."

"Well, I'm glad you're coming home. Everyone is inside waiting for you."

"Okay, thanks." Nigel had started to walk into the house, but Lily waited a few moments to let the events that were about to happen sink in; she had to do this. She had to tell them about the rape no matter how painful it may be.

"Ready?" Granger whispered in her ear.

"As ready as I'll ever be." She took Granger's arm, and together, they joined the rest of the family.

When they got into the living room, they were greeted by Asa, Renee, Clint, Bo, John, Antonio, Tina, David, Dorian, Viki, Todd, Cord, CJ, Sarah, Jessica, Natalie, and Kevin. To Lily, all of the faces looking up and smiling at her were kind of frightening. Why did _everyone _have to be there? She did not care either way, but she did not think making a simple statement was a family affair.

"Hi, Lily," Jessica smiled waving to her cousin. Lily relaxed; Jessica was the only one besides Granger or Jade who knew how to calm her down.

"Hey…everyone." The awkward silence returned. Viki stood up.

"Hey…why don't we all start getting brunch ready for when Lily is done with her statement?" she suggested. Taking the cue, Asa, Renee, Clint, Todd, Cord, Dorian, Jessica, Natalie, and Kevin stood up.

"Maybe you guys should go with them," Lily said to CJ and Sarah.

"Are you kidding me?" Sarah snapped. "You're our sister; we want to be here for you."

"Sarah…I'd really feel better if I knew you were helping Renee and Viki get ready. I'll be fine; I promise."

"Sarah, maybe Lily is right," CJ agreed. "If she wants us in here, someone can always come and get us."

"But—"

"Sarah…" Cord took his daughter's hand. "Right now I think it would be better to respect your sister's wishes."

"Fine." Sarah hugged Lily tightly. "I love you so much. You're really brave; I'm really proud to call you my sister."

"Thanks, Sarah." Sarah stepped aside, and CJ took his turn to wish his sister luck.

"Good luck, kid. I know it's hard living through all of what Richard did to you, but I think talking about it will help." He kissed his sister's forehead.

"Don't worry, you guys, I'll be fine. It's not like I'm facing a split personality or anything." She grinned at Jessica. "But thank you, all of you." When all of her relatives left, she turned to Bo, John, and Antonio. "Okay, I'm ready."

Bo smiled at his niece. "Okay, well, you can sit wherever you feel comfortable, and we'll begin."

Lily settled herself on the couch and took Granger's hand. For some reason, she could not look into the eyes of Bo, John, or Antonio. Something about them gave her a weird feeling, like her first night in Llanview; she thought they were trying to take her down…but they never wanted to do that at all. Lily immediately hated herself for judging everyone in Llanview when they just wanted to help her.

"Okay, Lily…I need you to tell me everything; from start to end; about what happened when Richard kidnapped you."

"Okay…" She closed her eyes, allowing all of the painful memories that she had been trying so hard to tuck in the back of her mind come flooding back to her. "Umm…Granger and I were at the movies, and uh…we were coming out of theater to go to our friend's house for a party. My cell phone started to ring, and I got a text message…from Richard, and I got really freaked out because it was the fifth one that I had gotten from him. Granger's motorcycle was broken, and I was scared that this freak would be on a bus or driving a taxi, so I convinced Granger that we had to call one of our friends to pick us up while we saw another movie. I went to get us tickets, and when I got out there, this guy just came up to me and started screaming at me…I don't know, I guess he was pretending to be my father…but he was dragging me away, and I was trying to scream and tell everyone that I didn't know this person, but they wouldn't listen…they wouldn't…" She shook her head as if a bee was buzzing in her ear. "Umm…the guy took me to the back parking lot and threw me in the back seat…I couldn't see anything, I couldn't see where we were, where we were going, and he was so above the speed limit; he must have been doing about eighty or something." She swallowed. "Umm…we got to the house, and the guy took me in, and then we saw…Richard…"

Antonio glanced at her quickly. "Lily, do you want to stop for now and get something to eat? You can take all the time you need…"

"No, it's okay, Antonio, but thank you." She closed her eyes and sighed deeply. "Richard was there, and he told me that I was going to die slowly and painfully…so he and his assistant took me to this one room, and I thought they were going to keep me there, but he then they lifted up this throw rug, and there was a trap door. They threw me down, and I was in this brightly lit yellow sponge room. Richard told me that he was going to let me rot there until I go insane and die." She shivered slightly; Granger took off his leather jacket and put it around Lily's shoulders. "I didn't sleep that night, not at all, and already I was going insane; I was talking to myself and everything…the next morning, Richard came in, and I told him that he wasn't going to get away from it, and I was going to go home…he started hitting me and beating me…" She took a long pause.

"Then what happened?" John inquired, prompting her to tell them more.

"Uh…I started seeing things, I started seeing people, my parents…they were telling me to hold on…and then Richard's assistant came down and saw me talking to the air. He told me that the walls were not sound proof, and the neighbors were getting suspicious, so they had to kill me now." Tears started to form in her eyes. "But before they did, Richard promised him…something."

"What did he promise him?" Bo asked, but he had a feeling that he knew very well "what."

"The assistant has a wife who cannot have children…but they both wanted to have one, so he told me that…I was going to give him one, and have the baby implanted into his wife…." She hugged her knees to her chest and started rocking back and forth. "He…umm…oh my god! Oh my god, I can't do this, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" With that, she ran out the back door leaving Tina, David, Bo, John, Antonio, and Granger staring after her.

* * *

David punched the wall. "I can't believe that he did that to her! I can't believe it!" He turned to Tina. "We should've paid more attention. I should've told her that she couldn't go to that party! I'm her father, and I sure wasn't acting like it…"

"David…" Tina sniffed and put her hand on his shoulder. "There was _nothing _we could do…I'm just as furious as you, but it is _not anybody's _fault." She looked at the door. "I'd better go talk to her…"

"No, Tina, please let me," David replied. "I think I should."

"Oh…okay." She watched as David opened the door and disappeared into the yard.

Granger groaned. "It's all my fault…"

"It's not your fault, kid." John McBain put his hand on Granger's shoulder as comfort. Granger chuckled.

"Well, I shouldn't have sat down and waited for her to get kidnapped. I should've _done _something."

"It's all over now, and we can't change that. What Lily needs now is our support and love."

"Yeah…yeah, I'm going to go talk to her."

"Don't. David just went out there. You should let them have some time alone."

* * *

Lily meandered into Asa's horse stable, the one place that always made her feel happy. For some reason, the smell of the horses always calmed her down. She walked slowly over to the hay loft and threw herself into it. Maybe if she fell asleep for a few hours, Bo would forget about the statement.

She was almost asleep when she heard the door open with a creak followed by footsteps. She desperately tried to submerge herself into the hay, but someone had already climbed into the hay loft. "Hey, sweetie."

David relaxed himself amongst the hay and stroked Lily's hair. "You know, Clint and Asa promised both of us that they'd teach us how to ride. They didn't do it yet. I think we need to remind them." Lily tried to stifle a smile, but she could not help it. "I knew that would make you smile," David sighed, but the smile on Lily's face quickly disappeared and was replaced by soft cries. He put his arm around his daughter and pulled her close. "Shh, you don't need to talk about it, okay? It's okay…it's okay."

"It's all my fault, David. I was so stupid when I got that first text message. I should've told Bo in the first place, and now…now…" She started sobbing openly now.

"It's okay…it's okay. It's over now, and Richard is dead. And we're going to forget all of the pain he caused you and our family. Okay?" Lily nodded. "That's my girl."

Lily wiped her eyes. "You know, growing up, some part of me knew that Richard was never my dad. Every night after Richard would…hurt me, I would pray that my real daddy would come and rescue me."

"I'm right here, honey. And I'm not going to leave. Never."

Together, father and daughter, they laid in silence. They were almost asleep when Lily broke the silence.

"David? Umm, last night I decided something."

"What's that?"

"I wanted to change my last name. I don't want to be a Patterson anymore."

"Well, what do you want to change it to? Lord? Buchanan?"

"No. I want to be Hillary Vickers." She looked into David's eyes. "What do you think, Dad?"

David hugged his daughter and kissed her head. "I think it's a great idea…Hillary Vickers."

* * *

Tina wandered into the horse stable a few hours later; David and Lily still had not returned to the house, and she was worried about them. She was just about to leave when she heard a soft snore from the top floor. Quietly, she climbed up into the hay loft to see the father and daughter pair asleep amongst the hay. Tina smiled to herself; why had she been worried about telling David about his daughter? They were getting along just fine. She kissed Lily's cheek and went to leave, but she turned around before leaving. She walked back over taking off her jacket. Gently, she covered them with the jacket.

Lily was home safe again.

**The End**

So that was it! That was the end of Lost on the Road of Life. Thanks to all of you who read this story. You all rock! Don't worry, there will be a sequel, so stay tuned!

Toddmanningfreak1112


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